Reading Percy Jackson
by cynder1827
Summary: Well I just wanted to see what you all would think if i did this idea. O and there will be one OC but her part in this will be just sisterly nothing more nothing less. and of course the book will be changed a little for the things i plan on doing. So ya i hope you enjoy it and please coment o and sence im not doing this in the capters i'll do it here: I do not own PJATO.
1. Chapter 1

On Olympus

All gods were pretty much talking Ares and Hephaestus arguing on how Aphrodite likes better. Aphrodite just looking at a mirror. Zeus, Poseidon and Hades are arguing as usual while Hera Demeter and Hestia are talking about their jobs. Athena and Artemis were talking about how some boys just don't like to admit when they lose. Hermes and Apollo talking about jokes and pranks they did over the years, and Dionysus was just thinking on how miserable his life was.

Then a note falls in front of Zeus and he read it:

"**Dear Gods and goddesses we are going to send special demigods to this time frame so you can know about future events"**

**PS: Three of them will not be demigods but they are important**

**From the Fates **

Then they all looked at each other "Well looks like we are going to be having some company soon" Zeus said still a little confuse "But Father if we read about the Future and change some things wouldn't that mean changing it and if so what if it's not suppose to" Athena said but before Zeus had time to say anything another note fell but this time to Hera

"**O and don't worry nothing would really change it's just a heads up and we might erase your memories so no need to worry have fun reading"**

**From Apollo**

Then they all looked to Apollo "Hey don't look at me its future me that you should be looking at" Apollo said defensively and Artemis just rolled her eyes at her brother stupidity. Then a flash of light came and a lot of Demigods her sitting on some couches that appeared as well. The Blond one with grey eyes looked up and ask "Why did you summon us here… not that we aren't ok with it but still?" she ask "We did not the fates and Apollo did and I don't mean this one" Artemis said pointing at her brother who stick his tong out at her and she just rolled her eyes.

Then Zeus decided to speck "so how about introduce your self's and please if you have the same dad or mom just go in a row so we don't go every were, ok?" the demigods nodded and then began

"Hi I'm Conner and this is my brother Travis Stoll" "And I'm Chris Rodriguez were the sons of Hermes" he told them which made Hermes smile

"Um I'm Will Solace Son of Apollo and head counselor" he said which made Apollo happy knowing that at least one of his children were counted in this

"Clarisse La Rue head councilor of Ares cabin" she said and Ares smiled a little

"I'm Katie Gardner daughter of Demeter" That made Demeter smile

"Annabeth Chase daughter of Athena and Architect of Olympus" Which made Athena smile

"Jake Mason son of Hephaestus" That made Hephaestus happy

"Nico Di Angelo son of Hades and Ghost King" He told them "Even though you're more like a prince" The one with bluish green eyes said which got him a glare from Nico which he just laughed about. Poseidon and Zeus just glared at their older brother "Hey Nico was born before the oath so don't even go there" Hades said

"I'm Thalia Grace Daughter of Zeus and Lieutenant of Artemis" Which Zeus was happy to know that his Daughter was back but Artemis was confused but still smiled

"I'm… well… I'm Perseus Jackson son of Poseidon and hero of Olympus" which got Poseidon a death glare from his brother "Hey it's not my fault that Sally was one of the most beautiful women I've ever seen" His brothers just rolled there eye's

"I'm Grover Underwood and I'm just a satyr" He said and all the demigods said "No you're the best!" that just made him blush

"I'm Rachel Elizabeth Dare and you'll learn my role in all of this later" she told them

"And I'm Just Pyra" she said "No you're not you're a really great sister even if you're not actually my sister" Percy said while hugging her which she returned it

Then Athena asks "So what exactly are we reading?" when she said that five different books fell from the sky one landing on Percy the other on Annabeth, Nico, Rachel and Pyra "Let's see Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The lightning thief. Sea of monster, Titan's Curse, Battle of the Labyrinth, and the last Olympian" Annabeth said "Well I guess since the first book landed on me I'll read first" Percy said and they All agreed and they Began


	2. I accidentally vaporized my pre-Algebra

"**I accidentally vaporized my pre-Algebra Teacher"**

"Ya you "accidentally" did that" Thalia said smirking and the others laughed

"**Look, I didn't want to be a half-blood"**

"Who does?"Conner said and the other demigods nodded

"**If you're reading this because you think you might be one, my advice is: close this book right now. Believe whatever lie your mom or dad told you about your birth, and try to lead a normal life."**

"Not going to work seaweed bran" Thalia said

"I know but it was worth a shot" Percy said which made Nico laugh

"**Being a half-blood is dangerous. It's scary. Most of the time, it gets you killed in painful, nasty ways."**

"Isn't that the truth" Clarisse said

**If you're a normal kid, reading this because you think its fiction, great. Read on I envy you for being able to believe that none of this happened. But if you recognize yourself in these pages-if you feel something stirring inside-stop reading immediately. You might be one of us.**

"Yes please stop I really don't want any more half-bloods in my camp" Dionysus said with his usual annoyed voice

**And once you know that, it's only a matter of time before **_**they**_** sense it too, and they'll come for you. Don't say I didn't warn you **

"But you didn't because we don't read minds so how were we suppose to know" both Hermes and Apollo said

"Well it's not like I knew you guys were going to read this and beside I did even know I had book" Percy said

"Ya why is that?" Annabeth ask

"I don't know but according to the cover all these are best sellers" Pyra said

"Really, my adventure is a best seller's, cool!" Percy said

"O no he's ego has grown" Thalia said

"Can we just get on with this?!" Ares yelled

"**My name is Percy Jackson.**

**I'm twelve years old. Until a few months ago, I was a boarding student at Yancy Academy, a private school for trouble kids in upstate New York.**

**Am I a trouble Kid?**

"Ya you are seaweed Brain" Annabeth said

"**Yeah. You could say that."**

"Ha you think like Percy" Conner said laughing but stop when he saw Annabeth glaring at him

"**I could start at any point in my short miserable life to prove it, but things really started going bad last may, when our sixth-grade class took a field trip to Manhattan-School bus, heading to the Metropolitan Museum of Art to look at ancient Greek and Roman stuff.**

"That's sounds like torture" Nico said

"**I know-it sounds like torture. Most Yancy field trips were.**

"Wow your think like your boyfriend" Travis said before closing his mouth immediately shut his mouth when he saw them glaring at him and most of the gods looked shock at that and Zeus was mad at that but before could say anything he got a glare from both Hera and Aphrodite and also their parents said something "We're ok with it as long as you two take care of each other, were ok…Right Hades?" he ask and Hades nodded and Nico and Percy nodded and Nico grabbed Percy's hand and smiled

**But Mr. Brunner, our Latin teacher, was leading this trip, so I had hopes.**

**Mr. Brunner was this middle-aged guy in a motorized wheelchair. He had thinning hair and a scruffy beard and a frayed tweed jacket, which always smelled like coffee.**

"Is that Chiron?" Clarisse ask

"You're just going to have to see" Percy said

**You wouldn't think he'd be cool, but he told stories and jokes and let us play games in class. He also had this awesome collection of Roman armor and weapons, so he was the only teacher whose class didn't put me to sleep.**

"You shouldn't be doing that anyway" Both Athena and Annabeth said

"Looks how's the same know" Rachel said will laughing

**I hoped the trip would be ok. At least, I hoped that for once I wouldn't get in trouble.**

**Boy was I wrong.**

**See, bad things happen to me on field trips. Like at my fifth-grade school, when we went to the Saratoga battlefield, I had this accident with a Revolutionary war cannon. I wasn't aiming for the school bus,**

"Then what exactly where you aiming for?" Nico ask

"I'm not really sure…" Percy said

**But of course I got expelled anyway. And before that, at my fourth-grade school, when we took a behind-the-scenes tour of the Marine World shark pool, I sort of hit the wrong lever on the catwalk and our class took an unplanned swim.**

"Wow you really do have bad luck" Hermes said

"I know…." Percy said

**And the time before that… Well, you get the idea.**

**This trip, I was determined to be good.**

"Not going to happen" everyone but Percy said and that made him pout and Nico laughed and kissed him on the check

**All the way into the city, I put up with Nancy Bobofit, the freckly, redheaded kleptomaniac girl, hitting my best friend Grover in the head with chunks of peanut butter-and-ketchup sandwich.**

"Ewe that's gross" most of them said

**Grover was an easy target. He was scrawny. He cried when he got frustrated. He must have been held back several grades, because he was the only sixth grader with acne and the start of a wispy beard on his chin. On top of all that, he was crippled. **

"Hay!" Grover said

"Sorry…." Percy said

**He had a note excusing him from PE for the rest of his life because he had some kind of muscular disease in his legs. He walked funny, like every step hurt him, but don't let that fool you. You should've seen him run when it was enchilada day in the cafeteria. Anyway, Nancy Bobofit was throwing wads of sandwich that stuck in his curly brown hair, and she knew I couldn't do anything back to her because I was already on probation. The headmaster had threatened me with death by in-school suspension if anything bad, embarrassing, or even mildly entertaining happened on this trip.**

"That's exactly what happen didn't it?" Will said

"Wait" was all Percy said

"**I'm going to kill her," I mumbled.**

"You should!" Both Clarisse and Ares said

**Grover tried to calm me down. "It's okay. I like peanut butter."**

**He dodge another piece of Nancy's lunch.**

"**That's it." I started to get up, but Grover pulled me back to my seat.**

"**You're already on probation," he reminded me. "You know who'll get blamed if anything if anything happens."**

**Looking back on it, I wish I'd decked Nancy Bobofit right then and there. In-school suspension would've been nothing compared to the mess I was about to get myself into.**

"Your right about that seaweed brain" Rachel said

**Mr. Brunner led the museum tour. He rode up front in his wheelchair, guiding us through the big echoey galleries, past marble statues and glass cases full of really old black-and –orange pottery. It blew my mind that this stuff had survived for two thousand, three thousand years.**

"Actually it was a lot more" Hermes said which made Athena shock that he would actually remember that

**He gathered us around a thirteen-foot-tall stone column with a big sphinx on the top, and started telling us how it was a grave marker, a **_**stele**_**, for a girl about our age. He told us about the carving on the sides. I was trying to listen to what he had to say, because it was kind of interesting, but everybody around me was talking, and every time I told them to shut up, the other teacher chaperone, Mrs. Dodds, would give me the evil eyes. Mrs. Dodds was this little math teacher from Georgia who always wore a black leather jacket, even though she was fifty years old. She looked mean enough to ride a Harley right into your locker.**

'Why does she seem familiar' Hades said in his head

**She had come to Yancy halfway through the year, when our last math teacher had a nervous breakdown.**

**From her first day, Mrs. Dodds love Nancy Bobofit and figured I was devil spawn. She would point her crooked finger at me and say, "Now, Honey," really sweet, and I knew I was going to get after-school detention for a month.**

"Wow that's mean" the Stoll's said

"You have no idea" Percy said

**One time, after she'd made me erase answers out of old math workbooks until midnight, I told Grover I didn't think Mrs. Dodds was human. He looked at me, real serious, and said, "You're absolutely right."**

"Way to go Grover just tell him right there and then" Thalia said sarcastically

"Hay I was panicking ok" Grover said blushing

"Hahaha I'm just kidding Grover" Thalia said While laughing

**Mr. Brunner kept talking about Greek funeral art. Finally, Nancy Bobofit snickered something about the naked guy on the stele, and I turned around and said, "Will you **_**shut up?" It came out **_**louder then I meant it to. The whole group laughed. Mr. Brunner stopped his story.**

"**Mr. Jackson," he said "did you have a comment?"**

"Busted!" the Stoll's said

"Shut up" Percy Said

**My face was totally red. I said, "No, sir." **

**Mr. Brunner pointed to one of the pictures on the stele. "Perhaps you'll tell us what this picture represents?"I looked at the carving, and felt a flush of relief, because I actually recognized it. "That's Kronos eating his, kids, right?" "Yes," Mr. Brunner said, obviously not satisfied. "And he did this because…" "Well…." I racked my brain to remember.**

"Don't try to hard Perce" Nico said Laughing

"**Kronos was the king god, and-"**

"GODS!"the gods said angrily

"I'm sorry but at least I corrected myself" Percy said

"**God?" Mr. Brunner asked.**

"**Titan," I corrected myself.**

"See" Percy said

"**And…. He didn't trust his kids, who were the gods. So, um, Kronos ate them, right? But his wife hid baby Zeus, and gave Kronos a rock to eat instead. And later, when Zeus grew up, he tricked his dad, Kronos, into barfing up his brothers and sisters-"**

"That was disgusting" Hestia, Demeter, Hera, Hades and Poseidon said

"**Eeew!" said one of the girls behind me.**

"**-and so there was this big fight between the goods and Titans," I continued, "and the gods won."**

"Did you just explain what took us forever to do in only a few sentences?" Demeter ask

"Yep" Percy said with a smile

That made Poseidon proud

**Some snickers from the group.**

**Behind me Nancy Bobofit mumbled to a friend, "Like we're going to use this in real life. Like it's going to say on our job applications, 'Please explain why Kronos ate his kids.'" "And why, Mr. Jackson," Brunner said, "To paraphrase Miss Bobofit excellent question, does this matter in real life?"**

"O now that's Busted" Apollo said and the others agreed

"**Busted," Grover muttered **

"**Shut up," Nancy hissed, her even brighter red then her hair.**

**At least Nancy got picked, too. Mr. Brunner was the only one who ever caught her saying anything wrong. He had radar ears.**

**I thought about his question, and I shrugged. "I don't know, sir."**

"**I see." Mr. Brunner looked disappointed. "Well, half credit, Mr. Jackson. Zeus did indeed feed Kronos a mixture of mustard and wine, which made him disgorge his other five children, who, of course, being immortal gods, had been living and growing up completely undigested in the Titan's stomach."**

"Not a happy time" Hestia said

"**The gods defeated their father, sliced him to piece with his own scythe, and scattered his remains in Tartarus, the darkest part of the underworld. On that happy note, it's time for lunch.**

"That was a happy note" Grover said

**Mrs. Dodds, would you lead us back outside?"**

**The class drifted off, the girls holding their stomachs, the guys pushing each other around and acting like doofuses.**

**Grover and I were about to follow when Mr. Brunner said "Mr. Jackson."**

**I knew that was coming. **

**I told Grover to keep going. Then I turned toward Mr. Brunner. "Sir?"**

**Mr. Brunner had this look that wouldn't let you go intense brown eyes that could've been a thousand years and had seen everything.**

"**You most learn the answer to my question," Mr. Brunner told me.**

"**About the Titans?"**

"**About really life. And how your studies apply to it."**

"**Oh."**

"**What you learn from me," he said, "is vitally important. I expect you to treat it as such. I will accept only the best from you, Percy Jackson."**

"Pressure much" Jake said

"Sorry" Chiron said looking down

**I wanted to get angry; this guy pushed me so hard. I mean, sure, it was kind of cool on tournament days, when he dressed up in a suit of Roman armor and shouted: "What ho!" and challenged us, sword-point against chalk, to run to the board and name every Greek and Roman person who had ever lived, and their mother, and what god they worshipped. But Mr. Brunner expected me to be as good as everybody else, despite the fact that I have dyslexia and attention deficit disorder and I had never made above a C- in my life. No he didn't expect me to be as good; he expected me to be better. And I just couldn't learn all those names and facts, much less spell them correctly.**

"I was terrible at spelling back then but I'm much better now Because of a great teacher" Percy said smiling

"Chiron showed you how to spell?" Almost everyone in the room ask

"No Annabeth tote me" Percy smile at Annabeth

"O yeah I did will then you're welcome" she said smiling back at Percy

That made Nico jealous

**I mumbled something about trying harder, while Mr. Brunner took one long sad look at the stele, like he'd been at this girl's funeral.**

"I was" Chiron said

**He told me to go outside and eat my lunch. **

**The class gathered on the front steps of the museum, where we could watch the foot traffic along Fifth Avenue.**

**Overhead, a huge storm was brewing, with clouds blacker then I'd ever seen over the city. I figured maybe it was global warming or something,**

"Or something" Most Demigods said

"Well I know that now" Percy said

**Because the weather all across New York state had been weird since Christmas. We'd had massive snow storms, flooding, wildfires from lightning strikes. I wouldn't have been surprised if this was a hurricane blowing in.**

"Why are you to mad at each other?" Apollo ask

Zeus and Poseidon just shrugged

**Nobody else seemed to notice. Some of the guys were pelting pigeons with Lunchables crackers. Nancy Bobofit was trying to pickpocket something from a lady's purse, and, of course, Mrs. Dodds wasn't seeing a thing. **

**Grover and I sat on the edge of the fountain, away from the others. We thought that maybe if we did that, everybody wouldn't know we were from that school-for loser freaks who couldn't make it elsewhere. **

"It didn't really work" Grover said

"Nope" Percy said

**"Detention?" Grover asked. **

**"Nah," I said. "Not from Brunner. I just wish he'd lay off me sometimes. I mean-I'm not a genius."**

"Sorry" Chiron said looking down

"It's alright Chiron I now understand why" Percy said

**Grover didn't say anything for a while. Then, when I thought he was going to give me some deep Philosophical comment to make me feel better, he said, "Can I have your apple?" **

"Way to cheer him up" Jake said

"Sorry Perce" Grover said

"It's ok G-Man" Percy said

**I didn't have much of an appetite, so I let him take it.** **I watched the stream of cabs going down Fifth Avenue, and thought about my mom's apartment, only a little ways uptown from where we sat. I hadn't seen her since Christmas. I wanted so bad to jump in a taxi and head home.**

"Aww you love your mother" Hera said

"That I do" Percy said smiling

**She'd hug me and be glad to see me, but she'd be disappointed, too. She'd send me right back to Yancy, remind me that I had to try harder, even if this was my sixth school in six years **

"Wow Seaweed Brain" Annabeth said

"**And I was probably going to be kicked out again. I wouldn't be able to stand that sad look she'd give me. Mr. Brunner parked his wheelchair at the base of the handicapped ramp. He ate celery while he read a paperback novel. A red umbrella stuck up from the back of his chair, making it look like a motorized cafe table.**

"Well I do like reading while eating a snack" Chiron said

**I was about to unwrap my sandwich when Nancy Bobofit appeared in front of me with her ugly friends-I guess she'd gotten tired of stealing from the tourists-and dumped her half-eaten lunch in Grover's lap. **

"How dare she do that to someone as awesome as Grover" Most of the Demigods said which mad Grover blush

**"Oops." She grinned at me with her crooked teeth. Her freckles were orange, as if somebody had spray-painted her face with liquid Cheetos.**

"I really hate her" Percy said

**I tried to stay cool. The school counselor had told me a million times, "Count to ten, get control of your temper." But I was so mad my mind went blank. A wave roared in my ears.**

'That's my boy' Poseidon said in his head

**I don't remember touching her, but the next thing I knew, Nancy was sitting on her butt in the fountain, screaming, "Percy pushed me!" **

**Mrs. Dodds materialized next to us. **

**Some of the kids were whispering: "Did you see-" **

**"-The water-" **

**"-like it grabbed her-"**

"Nice job Percy" Nico said

"I try" Percy said smiling at him

**I didn't know what they were talking about. All I knew was that I was in trouble again. **

**As soon as Mrs. Dodds was sure poor little Nancy was okay, promising to get her a new shirt at the museum gift shop, etc., etc., Mrs. Dodds turned on me. There was a tri-umphant fire in her eyes, as if I'd done something she'd been waiting for all semester. "Now, honey-" **

**"I know," I grumbled. "A month erasing workbooks." **

"I can't believe you guest your own punishment that's like Rule number 1" Hermes said

"What rules?" Percy asked

"The Hermes rule" Conner, Travis, Chris and Hermes said

Those just made Artemis roll her eyes and Clarisse and Will shaking their head

**That wasn't the right thing to say.**

"Duh" Hermes said which got him a head slap from Demeter

**"Come with me," Mrs. Dodds said. **

**"Wait!" Grover yelped. "It was me. I pushed her." **

**I stared at him, stunned. I couldn't believe he was trying to cover for me. Mrs. Dodds scared Grover to death.**

"With very good reason" Grover said

**She glared at him so hard his whiskery chin trembled. **

**"I don't think so, Mr. Underwood," she said. **

"**-But-" **

**"You-will-stay-here." **

**Grover looked at me desperately.** **"It's okay, man," I told him. "Thanks for trying." **

**"Honey," Mrs. Dodds barked at me. "Now." **

**Nancy Bobofit smirked. **

**I gave her my deluxe I'll-kill-you-later stare. Then I turned to face Mrs. Dodds, but she wasn't there. She was standing at the museum entrance, way at the top of the steps, gesturing impatiently at me to come on. **

**How'd she get there so fast? **

That when Hades figured it out 'That boy really does have bad luck'

**I have moments like that a lot, when my brain falls asleep or something, and the next thing I know I've missed something, as if a puzzle piece fell out of the universe and left me staring at the blank place behind it. The school counselor told me this was part of the ADHD, my brain misinterpreting things. **

**I wasn't so sure. **

**I went after Mrs. Dodds. **

"Bad idea" Chris said

**Halfway up the steps, I glanced back at Grover. He was looking pale, cutting his eyes between me and Mr. Brunner, like he wanted Mr. Brunner to notice what was going on, but Mr. Brunner was absorbed in his novel.**

The gods looked at him

"What, can't a centaur be able to read something without having to be criticized?" Chiron asked

**I looked back up. Mrs. Dodds had disappeared again. She was now inside the building, at the end of the entrance hall. **

**Okay, I thought. She's going to make me buy a new shirt for Nancy at the gift shop. **

"Nope" Travis said

**But apparently that wasn't the plan. **

**I followed her deeper into the museum. When I finally caught up to her, we were back in the Greek and Roman section. **

**Except for us, the gallery was empty. **

**Mrs. Dodds stood with her arms crossed in front of a big marble frieze of the Greek gods. She was making this weird noise in her throat, like growling. **

Nico couldn't put his finger on it but she was starting to sound familiar

**Even without the noise, I would've been nervous. It's weird being alone with a teacher, especially Mrs. Dodds. Something about the way she looked at the frieze, as if she wanted to pulverize it... **

**"You've been giving us problems, honey," she said. **

**I did the safe thing. I said, "Yes, ma'am." **

**She tugged on the cuffs of her leather jacket. "Did you really think you would get away with it?" **

**The look in her eyes was beyond mad. It was evil. **

**She's a teacher, I thought nervously. It's not like she's going to hurt me.**

"Wrong" Thalia said

**I said, "I'll-I'll try harder, ma'am." **

**Thunder shook the building. **

**"We are not fools, Percy Jackson," Mrs. Dodds said. "It was only a matter of time before we found you out. Confess, and you will suffer less pain."**

"O no" Poseidonsaid worried for his son

**I didn't know what she was talking about. **

**All I could think of was that the teachers must've found the illegal stash of candy I'd been selling out of my dorm room. Or maybe they'd realized I got my essay on Tom Sawyer from the Internet without ever reading the book and now they were going to take away my grade. Or worse, they were going to make me read the book.**

"Really Percy, Really" Annabeth said

"What I really hate reading" Percy said

"Then what are you doing now?" she ask

"Well umm I'm reading but it about me so it interesting" Percy said

That just made her laughs a little

**"Well?" she demanded. **

**"Ma'am, I don't..." **

**"Your time is up," she hissed. **

**Then the weirdest thing happened. Her eyes began to glow like barbecue coals. Her fingers stretched, turning into talons. Her jacket melted into large, leathery wings. She wasn't human. She was a shriveled hag with bat wings and claws and a mouth full of yellow fangs,**

"WHAT! Your first monster was Alecto?" Nico said

"Yes" Percy said nervously

"I swear you going to be the death of me" Nico said potting his head on Percy's shoulder

That just made Aphrodite squeal

"**And she was about to slice me to ribbons. **

**Then things got even stranger. **

**Mr. Brunner, who'd been out in front of the museum a minute before, wheeled his chair into the doorway of the gallery, holding a pen in his hand. **

**"What ho, Percy!" he shouted, and tossed the pen through the air. **

**Mrs. Dodds lunged at me. **

**With a yelp, I dodged and felt talons slash the air next to my ear. I snatched the ballpoint pen out of the air, but when it hit my hand, it wasn't a pen anymore. It was a sword-Mr. Brunner's bronze sword, which he always used on tournament day. **

**Mrs. Dodds spun toward me with a murderous look in her eyes. **

**My knees were jelly. My hands were shaking so bad I almost dropped the sword. **

**She snarled, "Die, honey!" **

**And she flew straight at me. **

**Absolute terror ran through my body. I did the only thing that came naturally: I swung the sword. **

**The metal blade hit her shoulder and passed clean through her body as if she were made of water. **

**Hiss!**

"Way to go Percy" Pyra said

"Thanks" Percy said

**Mrs. Dodds was a sand castle in a power fan. She exploded into yellow powder, vaporized on the spot, leaving nothing but the smell of sulfur and a dying screech and a chill of evil in the air, as if those two glowing red eyes were still watching me.**

**I was alone. **

**There was a ballpoint pen in my hand. **

**Mr. Brunner wasn't there. Nobody was there but me. **

**My hands were still trembling. My lunch must've been contaminated with magic mushrooms or some-thing. **

"No it wasn't" Clarisse said

**Had I imagined the whole thing?**

"Nope" Conner and Travis said

**I went back outside. **

**It had started to rain.**

"I love the rain it helps the Plants grow" Katie said

This made Demeter smile

**Grover was sitting by the fountain, a museum map tented over his head. Nancy Bobofit was still standing there, soaked from her swim in the fountain, grumbling to her ugly friends. When she saw me, she said, "I hope Mrs. Kerr whipped your butt." **

"Who?"Most of the Demigods and Gods asked

**I said, "Who?" **

**"Our teacher. Duh!" **

**I blinked. We had no teacher named Mrs. Kerr. I asked Nancy what she was talking about. **

**She just rolled her eyes and turned away.**

**I asked Grover where Mrs. Dodds was. **

**He said, "Who?" **

"Really Grover" Thalia said

"What I didn't know what else to do" Grover said

**But he paused first, and he wouldn't look at me, so I thought he was messing with me. **

**"Not funny, man," I told him. "This is serious." **

"Totally Serious" Chris said

**Thunder boomed overhead. **

**I saw Mr. Brunner sitting under his red umbrella, read-ing his book, as if he'd never moved. **

**I went over to him. **

**He looked up, a little distracted. "Ah, that would be my pen. Please bring your own writing utensil in the future, Mr. Jackson." **

**I handed Mr. Brunner his pen. I hadn't even realized I was still holding it. **

**"Sir," I said, "where's Mrs. Dodds?" **

**He stared at me blankly. "Who?" **

**"The other chaperone. Mrs. Dodds. The pre-algebra teacher." **

**He frowned and sat forward, looking mildly concerned. "Percy, there is no Mrs. Dodds on this trip. As far as I know, there has never been a Mrs. Dodds at Yancy Academy. Are you feeling all right?" **

"That's the end of chapter one, who wants to read next?" Percy ask

"I will" Annabeth said taking the book


	3. THREE OLD LADIES KNIT THE SOCKS OF DEATH

"**THREE OLD LADIES KNIT THE SOCKS OF DEATH"**

"Wow what's with you and death?" Rachel and Will ask

"I really don't know" Percy told them

**I was used to the occasional weird experience, but usually they were over quickly. This twenty-four/seven hallucination was more than I could handle. For the rest of the school year, the entire campus seemed to be playing some kind of trick on me.**

"Nope that's the Mist fault" The stolls said 

**The students acted as if they were completely and totally convinced that Mrs. Kerr-a perky blond woman whom I'd never seen in my life until she got on our bus at the end of the field trip-had been our pre-algebra teacher since Christmas.**

"Good old mist you can't live with it, you can't live without" Jake said

Which everyone agreed

**Every so often I would spring a Mrs. Dodds reference on somebody, just to see if I could trip them up, but they would stare at me like I was psycho.**

"That's because you are" Thalia said

"Am not"

"Are to"

"Am not "

"Both of you shut up" Will said

They just laughed

**It got so I almost believed them-Mrs. Dodds had never existed.**

**Almost.**

"But Grover told you otherwise" Thalia said

**But Grover couldn't fool me. When I mentioned the name Dodds to him, he would hesitate, then claim she didn't exist. But I knew he was lying.**

"Yah Grover you are a bad Liar" Jake said

**Something was going on. Something had happened at the museum.**

"Yes it did" Annabeth said 

**I didn't have much time to think about it during the days, but at night, visions of Mrs. Dodds with talons and leathery wings would wake me up in a cold sweat.**

"Those are terribly dreams" The Demigods said

**The freak weather continued, which didn't help my mood. One night, a thunderstorm blew out the windows in my dorm room. A few days later, the biggest tornado ever spotted in the Hudson Valley touched down only fifty miles from Yancy Academy.**

"Seriously what are you two arguing about" Apollo Ask

The just shrugged again

**One of the current events we studied in social studies class was the unusual number of small planes that had gone down in sudden squalls in the Atlantic that year.**

"Wow…" Pyra said

"Yep" Percy replied

**I started feeling cranky and irritable most of the time. My grades slipped from Ds to Fs. I got into more fights with Nancy Bobofit and her friends. I was sent out into the hallway in almost every class.**

**Finally, when our English teacher, Mr. Nicoll, asked me for the millionth time why I was too lazy to study for spelling tests, I snapped. I called him an old sot.**

"Way to stick it to him Percy" Travis said hi fiving Percy 

**I wasn't even sure what it meant, but it sounded good.**

**The headmaster sent my mom a letter the following week, making it official: I would not be invited back next year to Yancy Academy.**

"And it begins" Athena said

**Fine, I told myself. Just fine.**

**I was homesick.**

"Now that's a caring son" Both Hera and Hestia said

That made Percy blush

**I wanted to be with my mom in our little apartment on the Upper East Side, even if I had to go to public school and put up with my obnoxious stepfather and his stupid poker parties.**

"But Paul doesn't gamble" Thalia and Nico said

"It's no Paul it's someone that's really bad" Percy said

Pyra just put a hand in his shoulder and smiled at him which he returned

**And yet… there were things I'd miss at Yancy. The view of the woods out my dorm window, the Hudson River in the distance, the smell of pine trees. I'd miss Grover, who'd been a good friend, even if he was a little strange. I worried how he'd survive next year without me.**

"Well you were right and wrong" Grover said

"How was I right, I can understand wrong but-" Percy said confusedly

"Because you're my best friend" Grover said and gave a fist bump to Percy

"Right back at yah G-Man" Percy said with a smile

**I'd miss Latin class, too-Mr. Brunner's crazy tournament days and his faith that I could do well.**

**As exam week got closer, Latin was the only test I studied for. I hadn't forgotten what Mr. Brunner had told me about this subject being life-and-death for me. I wasn't sure why, but I'd started to believe him.**

"You should" Katie said

"I know that now" Percy said

**The evening before my final, I got so frustrated I threw the Cambridge Guide to Greek Mythology across my dorm room. Words had started swimming off the page, circling my head, the letters doing one-eighties as if they were riding skateboards. There was no way I was going to remember the difference between Chiron and Charon, or Polydictes and Polydeuces.**

"Did you ever figure them out?" Hephaestus ask

"Yep" Percy said with a smile

**And conjugating those Latin verbs? Forget it.**

"You give up way to easily with these kinds of things Seaweed Brain" Annabeth said

"Not my fault it was hard" Percy said

**I paced the room, feeling like ants were crawling around inside my shirt.**

**I remembered Mr. Brunner's serious expression, his thousand-year-old eyes. I will accept only the best from you, Percy Jackson.**

**I took a deep breath. I picked up the mythology book.**

**I'd never asked a teacher for help before. Maybe if I talked to Mr. Brunner, he could give me some pointers. At least I could apologize for the big fat F I was about to score on his exam. I didn't want to leave Yancy Academy with him thinking I hadn't tried.**

**I walked downstairs to the faculty offices. Most of them were dark and empty, but Mr. Brunner's door was ajar, light from his window stretching across the hallway floor.**

**I was three steps from the door handle when I heard voices inside the office. Mr. Brunner asked a question. A voice that was definitely Grover's said "… worried about Percy, sir."**

"O dear" Chiron said

**I froze.**

**I'm not usually an eavesdropper, but I dare you to try not listening if you hear your best friend talking about you to an adult.**

"True…" The Stoll's, Chris, Hermes and Apollo said

**I inched closer.**

"… **alone this summer," Grover was saying. "I mean, a Kindly One in the school! Now that we know for sure, and they know too-"**

"**We would only make matters worse by rushing him," Mr. Brunner said. "We need the boy to mature more."**

"Way more actually" Clarisse said

"If it's Poseidon's Kid then of course"Athena said

"Hay!" Poseidon and Percy said

"**But he may not have time. The summer solstice deadline- "**

"What about the Summer solstice?" All the gods ask and Thalia and Nico ask

"You'll have to wait and see" The other's said

"**Will have to be resolved without him, Grover. Let him enjoy his ignorance while he still can."**

"**Sir, he saw her…."**

"**His imagination," Mr. Brunner insisted. "The Mist over the students and staff will be enough to convince him of that."**

"**Sir, I … I can't fail in my duties again." Grover's voice was choked with emotion.**

"Grover" Thalia said

"Sorry" Grover said

"**You know what that would mean."**

"**You haven't failed, Grover,"**

"Exactly" Thalia said

**Mr. Brunner said kindly. "I should have seen her for what she was. Now let's just worry about keeping Percy alive until next fall-"**

**The mythology book dropped out of my hand and hit the floor with a thud.**

"Ops" Chris said

**Mr. Brunner went silent.**

**My heart hammering, I picked up the book and backed down the hall.**

"Good start" Hermes

**A shadow slid across the lighted glass of Brunner's office door, the shadow of something much taller than my wheelchair-bound teacher, holding something that looked suspiciously like an archer's bow.**

Chiron just looked down as if his hooves were the most interesting things in the world

**I opened the nearest door and slipped inside.**

**A few seconds later I heard a slow clop-clop-clop, like muffled wood blocks, then a sound like an animal snuffling right outside my door. A large, dark shape paused in front of the glass, then moved on.**

**A bead of sweat trickled down my neck.**

**Somewhere in the hallway, Mr. Brunner spoke. "Nothing," he murmured. "My nerves haven't been right since the winter solstice."**

"**Mine neither," Grover said. "But I could have sworn …"**

"**Go back to the dorm," Mr. Brunner told him. "You've got a long day of exams tomorrow."**

"Those were horrible" Both Grover and Percy said

"**Don't remind me."**

**The lights went out in Mr. Brunner's office.**

**I waited in the dark for what seemed like forever.**

**Finally, I slipped out into the hallway and made my way back up to the dorm.**

**Grover was lying on his bed, studying his Latin exam notes like he'd been there all night.**

"**Hey," he said, bleary-eyed. "You going to be ready for this test?"**

"Not at all" Percy said

**I didn't answer.**

"**You look awful." He frowned. "Is everything okay?"**

"No…" Percy said

Which he caused him to put his head on Nico's lap and Nico just brushed his hair with his fingers

"**Just… tired."**

**I turned so he couldn't read my expression, and started getting ready for bed.**

**I didn't understand what I'd heard downstairs. I wanted to believe I'd imagined the whole thing.**

**But one thing was clear: Grover and Mr. Brunner were talking about me behind my back. They thought I was in some kind of danger.**

"You were" Most of them said

**The next afternoon, as I was leaving the three-hour Latin exam,**

"THREE HOURS!" All the demigods said

"Yep" Grover and Percy said

**My eyes swimming with all the Greek and Roman names I'd misspelled, Mr. Brunner called me back inside.**

**For a moment, I was worried he'd found out about my eavesdropping the night before, but that didn't seem to be the problem.**

"**Percy," he said. "Don't be discouraged about leaving Yancy. It's … it's for the best."**

"Hurtful" Hermes said

"I really must get better at that" Chiron said

**His tone was kind, but the words still embarrassed me. Even though he was speaking quietly, the other kids finishing the test could hear. Nancy Bobofit smirked at me and made sarcastic little kissing motions with her lips.**

**I mumbled, "Okay, sir."**

"**I mean …" Mr. Brunner wheeled his chair back and forth, like he wasn't sure what to say. "This isn't the right place for you. It was only a matter of time."**

**My eyes stung.**

**Here was my favorite teacher, in front of the class, telling me I couldn't handle it. After saying he believed in me all year, now he was telling me I was destined to get kicked out.**

"Yep I really mush get better at that" Chiron said

"**Right," I said, trembling.**

"**No, no," Mr. Brunner said. "Oh, confound it all. What I'm trying to say … you're not normal, Percy. That's nothing to be-"**

"Hurtful" Apollo repeated

"I know" Chiron said looking down

"**Thanks," I blurted. "Thanks a lot, sir, for reminding me.**

"**Percy-"**

**But I was already gone.**

**On the last day of the term, I shoved my clothes into my suitcase.**

**The other guys were joking around, talking about their vacation plans. One of them was going on a hiking trip to Switzerland. Another was cruising the Caribbean for a month. They were juvenile delinquents, like me, but they were rich juvenile delinquents. Their daddies were executives, or ambassadors, or celebrities. I was a nobody, from a family of nobodies.**

"Hey!" The Gods said

"Well not anymore" Percy said

**They asked me what I'd be doing this summer and I told them I was going back to the city.**

**What I didn't tell them was that I'd have to get a summer job walking dogs or selling magazine subscriptions, and spend my free time worrying about where I'd go to school in the fall.**

"**Oh," one of the guys said. "That's cool."**

**They went back to their conversation as if I'd never existed.**

That made his friends mad especially Nico

**The only person I dreaded saying good-bye to was Grover, but as it turned out, I didn't have to. He'd booked a ticket to Manhattan on the same Greyhound as I had, so there we were, together again, heading into the city.**

**During the whole bus ride, Grover kept glancing nervously down the aisle, watching the other passengers. It occurred to me that he'd always acted nervous and fidgety when we left Yancy, as if he expected something bad to happen. Before, I'd always assumed he was worried about getting teased. But there was nobody to tease him on the Greyhound.**

**Finally I couldn't stand it anymore.**

**I said, "Looking for Kindly Ones?"**

**Grover nearly jumped out of his seat. "Wha-what do you mean?"**

"Exactly what he said" Ares said

**I confessed about eavesdropping on him and Mr. Brunner the night before the exam.**

**Grover's eye twitched. "How much did you hear?"**

"**Oh … not much. What's the summer solstice dead-line?"**

"Yah what going on?" The Gods ask

"Nope can't say" The Demigods said except for Nico and Thalia

"Why aren't you two saying anything?" Apollo ask

"Because we weren't there" was all they said

**He winced. "Look, Percy … I was just worried for you, see? I mean, hallucinating about demon math teachers …"**

"**Grover-"**

"**And I was telling Mr. Brunner that maybe you were overstressed or something, because there was no such person as Mrs. Dodds, and …"**

"Grover you're a really bad liar" Annabeth said

"I know but that's why Juniper loves me" Grover said remembering his girlfriend which caught Aphrodite's attention

"**Grover, you're a really, really bad liar."**

**His ears turned pink.**

**From his shirt pocket, he fished out a grubby business card. "Just take this, okay? In case you need me this summer.**

**The card was in fancy script, which was murder on my dyslexic eyes, but I finally made out something like:**

**Grover Underwood**

**Keeper**

**Half-Blood Hill**

**Long Island, New York**

**(800) 009-0009**

"**What's Half-"**

"**Don't say it aloud!" he yelped. "That's my, um … summer address."**

**My heart sank. Grover had a summer home. I'd never considered that his family might be as rich as the others at Yancy.**

"I'm not rich" Grover said

"**Okay," I said glumly. "So, like, if I want to come visit your mansion."**

**He nodded. "Or … or if you need me."**

"**Why would I need you?"**

"That what harsh Percy" Thalia said

**It came out harsher than I meant it to.**

**Grover blushed right down to his Adam's apple. "Look, Percy, the truth is, I-I kind of have to protect you."**

**I stared at him.**

**All year long, I'd gotten in fights, keeping bullies away from him. I'd lost sleep worrying that he'd get beaten up next year without me. And here he was acting like he was the one who defended me.**

"Yah I really didn't have a great selling point did I?" Grover ask and Percy nodded

"**Grover," I said, "What exactly are you protecting me from?"**

**There was a huge grinding noise under our feet. Black smoke poured from the dashboard and the whole bus filled with a smell like rotten eggs. The driver cursed and limped the Greyhound over to the side of the highway.**

**After a few minutes clanking around in the engine compartment, the driver announced that we'd all have to get off. Grover and I filed outside with everybody else.**

**We were on a stretch of country road-no place you'd notice if you didn't break down there. On our side of the highway was nothing but maple trees and litter from passing cars. On the other side, across four lanes of asphalt shimmering with afternoon heat was an old-fashioned fruit stand.**

"Hmm Fruit" Demeter and Katie said

**The stuff on sale looked really good: heaping boxes of bloodred cherries and apples, walnuts and apricots, jugs of cider in a claw-foot tub full of ice.**

"Now were hungry" Apollo and Hermes said

"Well eat after this chapter" Zeus said

"YAH" they yelled

**There were no customers, just three old ladies sitting in rocking chairs in the shade of a maple tree, knitting the biggest pair of socks I'd ever seen.**

"The fates, what are they doing there?" Apollo ask

All he got was a shrug from Percy

**I mean these socks were the size of sweaters, but they were clearly socks. The lady on the right knitted one of them. The lady on the left knitted the other. The lady in the middle held an enormous basket of electric-blue yarn.**

**All three women looked ancient, with pale faces wrinkled like fruit leather, silver hair tied back in white bandannas, bony arms sticking out of bleached cotton dresses.**

**The weirdest thing was, they seemed to be looking right at me.**

At that Nico grabbed his shoulder and Percy looked at him in the eyes

'Don't worry it's not me' Percy mouth to him and he sign in relief

**I looked over at Grover to say something about this and saw that the blood had drained from his face. His nose was twitching.**

"**Grover?" I said. "Hey, man-"**

"**Tell me they're not looking at you. They are, aren't they?"**

"**Yeah. Weird, huh? You think those socks would fit me?"**

"PERCY" everyone said to him

"What I just wanted to lighten the mood" Percy said

"**Not funny, Percy. Not funny at all."**

"Defiantly" Apollo said

**The old lady in the middle took out a huge pair of scissors-gold and silver, long-bladed, like shears. I heard Grover catch his breath.**

"**We're getting on the bus," he told me. "Come on."**

"**What?" I said. "It's a thousand degrees in there."**

"**Come on!'" He pried open the door and climbed inside, but I stayed back.**

**Across the road, the old ladies were still watching me. The middle one cut the yarn, and I swear I could hear that snip across four lanes of traffic. Her two friends balled up the electric-blue socks, leaving me wondering who they could possibly be for-Sasquatch or Godzilla.**

**At the rear of the bus, the driver wrenched a big chunk of smoking metal out of the engine compartment. The bus shuddered, and the engine roared back to life.**

**The passengers cheered.**

"**Darn right!" yelled the driver. He slapped the bus with his hat. "Everybody back on board!"**

**Once we got going, I started feeling feverish, as if I'd caught the flu.**

"Percy…"Poseidon said

"Don't worry dad I'm fine" Percy said

**Grover didn't look much better. He was shivering and his teeth were chattering.**

"**Grover?"**

"**Yeah?"**

"**What are you not telling me?"**

**He dabbed his forehead with his shirt sleeve. "Percy, what did you see back at the fruit stand?"**

"**You mean the old ladies? What is it about them, man? They're not like … Mrs. Dodds, are they?"**

"Worst" The Gods said

**His expression was hard to read, but I got the feeling that the fruit-stand ladies were something much, much worse than Mrs. Dodds. He said, "Just tell me what you saw."**

"**The middle one took out her scissors, and she cut the yarn."**

**He closed his eyes and made a gesture with his fingers that might've been crossing himself, but it wasn't. It was something else, something almost-older.**

**He said, "You saw her snip the cord."**

"**Yeah. So?" But even as I said it, I knew it was a big deal.**

"It is" Everyone except Percy said

"Well I know that now" Percy said

"**This is not happening," Grover mumbled. He started chewing at his thumb. "I don't want this to be like the last time."**

"Grover!" Thalia said

"I'm sorry but it was kind of my fault" Grover said

"**What last time?"**

"**Always sixth grade. They never get past sixth."**

"**Grover," I said, because he was really starting to scare me. "What are you talking about?"**

"**Let me walk you home from the bus station. Promise me."**

**This seemed like a strange request to me, but I promised he could.**

"**Is this like a superstition or something?" I asked.**

**No answer.**

"**Grover-that snipping of the yarn. Does that mean somebody is going to die?"**

Poseidon paled and looked at his son who mouth 'It's not mine' and Poseidon signed in relief

**He looked at me mournfully, like he was already picking the kind of flowers I'd like best on my coffin.**

"That the end of Chapter two who wants to read next" Annabeth ask

"I will" Hestia said and Annabeth gave her the book

One thing that I forgot to do is this

I do not own PJATO or its character that is all Rick Riordan

But the changes will be mine but the books no

I will also say this at the ending

Hope you enjoy


	4. Break Time

**Break Time**

"Grover unexpectedly loses his Pants" Hestia said reading the title

"Yes but before we read we did promise a lunch break" Zeus said which made Apollo and Hermes Happy

"Yes but before we do that I must ask you Demigods something?" Aphrodite ask

The demigods were a little worried but stayed

"How many of you are in relationships?" When she asked that the other gods looked at them also wondering that.

Most of them raised their hands and only two didn't

This really got Aphrodite's attention "Really How, when and who?" She asked and the Demigods look alike worried, they would like to but can't but then a note fell in front of Rachel:

**Dear Demigods,**

**Since the goods won't remember anything it is alright for you to tell them**

**From Apollo and the Fates**

Rachel read out loud and then they all agreed and Percy went first

"Well as you know I'm dating Nico if I can think in book terms I would believe it started in, book 4?" He asked looking at Nico who thought for a moment "I think it's when I acted on my feelings for you, but we started dating in book 5" Nico said finishing it off and Both Poseidon and Hades nodded.

Then Annabeth went "Well I have a girlfriend and it started in book one in the second sires" she said looking at her mom who just nodded for her to continue "Um well she's not here but she is a unique Demigod" "That's putting it mildly" Rachel said laughing "Anyway and if you guys are going to read our other adventure then I'll tell you who exactly she is" Annabeth finishing and looked at her mother "As long as your happy I'm ok" she said with a smile and Annabeth nodded.

Next Clarisse "I'm Dating Chris and it started in the 5th book" she said pointing to Chris who was sitting next to her and all he did was wave. Their parents were shocked "Wait your dating one of his kids?" Ares ask pointing to Hermes who looked offended "Excuse me but if you're going to blame me for pranking your cabin then don't it's mostly Apollo's kids" Hermes said 'I think?' he said in his head "I wasn't saying anything I just wanted to be sure" Was all Ares said then look at his daughter "It's your life Clarisse and I will respect who you chose" "Same" Hermes said and both Clarisse and Chris and the smiled.

Than Travis "Well I'm dating Katie and it started in the 5th book" he said hugging Katie who returned it with a smile and their parents nodded saying its ok with them "I have no one" Conner said and Travis patted his shoulder.

The Jake "I'm dating Will it started in the 5th book" he said pointing to Will who nodded "Why?" Hephaestus ask "Why not he's a good looking kid" Apollo said "Well with all due respect lord Apollo I didn't fall for him because of the way he looks" Will stared at him "Not that you're not good looking" He said and Will raised his eye "You normally call be Beautiful but never good looking and don't start now" Will said laughing a little at his boyfriend and that's when they heard Aphrodite sequel "Now that's cute!" She said which made them both Blush in embarrassment "Also the point of fact that Will acts nothing like an Apollo kid" Nico said and the others agreed "Whys that?" Apollo asked "Well Wills never lead back, he never pranks and he only steels things when he needs to not when he wants to and he's streaked" Chris said and the gods all had wide eyes "Apollo are you sure he's your kid?" Artemis asked and Apollo nodded "I'm sure but he doesn't act like it though…" Apollo said "He's one of a kind" Jake said "Just like Chris" Percy said "What do you mean by that?" Hermes ask "I'm more of a worry wart but mostly toward Clarisse and also I'm calm and patient" "we aren't" The Stoll's said "Exactly" he said "Well it's at least it's not a big different so I'm ok" Hermes said with a smile.

Lastly Grover "I'm dating Juniper the nymph" he said

Then the others "I'm not allowed to date after all I am the Lieutenant of Artemis so not romance for me" Thalia said which made Artemis smile "I'm never going to have a Boyfriend or girlfriend and the reason why shall be explanted in Book 5" Rachel said "And as for me…..I'm married" Was all Pyra said and the gods and a most (but Percy) of the Demigods had wide eyes "What?" Pyra ask "You're married?" Apollo asked and she nodded "Yep but you won't meet her until the, 4th book" she said looking at Percy who nodded "Percy you've meet her wife?" Nico, Rachel and Annabeth ask and he nodded "When?" they ask "In the you know what" Percy said but that didn't seem to satisfy them "All I'm going to say is that you guys were asleep when she showed herself" Percy said and the others nodded

"So that's all?" Aphrodite ask "Well yes but considering the others aren't here we wouldn't want to ruin the surprise" Annabeth "Well enough about this lets go eat" With that Hermes and Apollo were the first ones out and the others fallowed closed behind them.


	5. Grover unexpectadly loses his pants

GROVER UNEXPECTEDLY LOSES HIS PANTS

When they all came back from Lunch they sat down and began

"Grover unexpectedly loses his pants" Hestia said

"Really Grover?" Thalia said

"What?" Grover ask

**Confession time: I ditched Grover as soon as we got to the bus terminal.**

"That just mean Perseus" Hera said

"I know but I had to I had a very good reason" Percy said in his defense

**I know, I know. It was rude. But Grover was freaking me out, looking at me like I was a dead man, muttering "Why does this always happen?" and "Why does it always have to he sixth grade?"**

"Yah now I could see that" Thalia and Nico said together which the both looked at each other in shock

That just made Percy and Annabeth laughed

**Whenever he got upset, Grover's bladder acted up, so I wasn't surprised when, as soon as we got off the bus, he made me promise to wait for him, then made a beeline for the restroom. Instead of waiting, I got my suitcase, slipped outside, and caught the first taxi uptown.**

"Nice plan" Hermes

"Even I must agree it was logical" Athena said

"Why thank you Lady Athena" Percy said knowing it was and actual complement

"**East One-hundred-and-fourth and First," I told the driver.**

"Don't even thing about guys" Percy said looking at Hermes, Apollo, and the Stoll's

And they smiled innocently

**A word about my mother, before you meet her.**

"Number one" Thalia said

"The coolest" Nico said

"The Best" Percy said

"Amazing" Poseidon said remembering Sally

**Her name is Sally Jackson and she's the best person in the world, which just proves my theory that the best people have the rottenest luck. Her own parents died in a plane crash when she was five, and she was raised by an uncle who didn't care much about her.**

"ZEUS!" Hara, Hestia and Aphrodite shouted

"Sorry" Was all Zeus said 

**She wanted to be a novelist, so she spent high school working to save enough money for a college with a good creative-writing program. Then her uncle got cancer, and she had to quit school her senior year to take care of him. After he died, she was left with no money, no family, and no diploma.**

"Poor Women" Artemis

"Yah..." Percy said with a sad expression

**The only good break she ever got was meeting my dad.**

"Really?" Athena ask pointing to Poseidon "This guy right here"

"HAY!" Poseidon said offended

**I don't have any memories of him, just this sort of warm glow, maybe the barest trace of his smile. My mom doesn't like to talk about him because it makes her sad. She has no pictures.**

**See, they weren't married. She told me he was rich and important, and their relationship was a secret. Then one day, he set sail across the Atlantic on some important journey, and he never came back.**

**Lost at sea, my mom told me. Not dead. Lost at sea.**

"Wow she lied yet not, I like her" Hermes and Apollo agreed 

**She worked odd jobs, took night classes to get her high school diploma, and raised me on her own. She never complained or got mad. Not even once. But I knew I wasn't an easy kid.**

**Finally, she married Gabe Ugliano, who was nice the first thirty seconds we knew him, then showed his true colors as a world-class jerk. When I was young, I nicknamed him Smelly Gabe. I'm sorry, but it's the truth. The guy reeked like moldy garlic pizza wrapped in gym shorts.**

"EWWW" The girls said

"It was Terrible" Percy said remembering Gabe

**Between the two of us, we made my mom's life pretty hard. The way Smelly Gabe treated her, the way he and I got along … well, when I came home is a good example.**

**I walked into our little apartment, hoping my mom would be home from work. Instead, Smelly Gabe was in the living room, playing poker with his buddies. The television blared ESPN. Chips and beer cans were strewn all over the carpet.**

"Wow" was all Hermes could say

**Hardly looking up, he said around his cigar, "So, you're home."**

"**Where's my mom?"**

"**Working," he said. "You got any cash?"**

"Really is he rally asking that" Poseidon ask

"Yep" was the only thing Percy said

**That was it. No Welcome back. Good to see you. How has your life been the last six months?**

**Gabe had put on weight. He looked like a tuskless walrus in thrift-store clothes. He had about three hairs on his head, all combed over his bald scalp, as if that made him handsome or something.**

"It definitely wouldn't" Apollo said

**He managed the Electronics Mega-Mart in Queens, but he stayed home most of the time. I don't know why he hadn't been fired long before. He just kept on collecting paychecks, spending the money on cigars that made me nauseous, and on beer, of course. Always beer. Whenever I was home, he expected me to provide his gambling funds. He called that our "guy secret." Meaning, if I told my mom, he would punch my lights out.**

That caught Poseidon's attention "Did he ever hit you?" that caught Nico's attention as he was worried for his boyfriend "Percy did he?" Nico asked and all they got was a nod which just made them mad now knowing that he was actually hit by this guy

"**I don't have any cash," I told him.**

**He raised a greasy eyebrow.**

**Gabe could sniff out money like a bloodhound, which was surprising, since his own smell should've covered up everything else.**

"**You took a taxi from the bus station," he said. Probably paid with a twenty. Got six, seven bucks in change.**

"Wow he can actually do math" Thalia said in sarcasm

**Somebody expects to live under this roof, he ought to carry his own weight. Am I right, Eddie?"**

"He's so heartless" Hera said and the others agreed

**Eddie, the super of the apartment building, looked at me with a twinge of sympathy. "Come on, Gabe," he said. "The kid just got here."**

"Well at least he has a soul" Hades said and Nico nodded still angry

"**Am I right?" Gabe repeated.**

**Eddie scowled into his bowl of pretzels. The other two guys passed gas in harmony.**

"Gross" Everyone said

"**Fine," I said. I dug a wad of dollars out of my pocket and threw the money on the table. "I hope you lose."**

"Done" Both Hermes and Dionysus said

"Wow your being nice" Demeter said

"Well if anyone is going to make his life miserable it's me" Dionysus said

"**Your report card came, brain boy!" he shouted after me. "I wouldn't act so snooty!"**

**I slammed the door to my room, which really wasn't my room. During school months, it was Gabe's "study."**

"Doubtful" Athena and Annabeth said

**He didn't study anything in there except old car magazines, but he loved shoving my stuff in the closet, leaving his muddy boots on my windowsill, and doing his best to make the place smell like his nasty cologne and cigars and stale beer.**

**I dropped my suitcase on the bed. Home sweet home.**

**Gabe's smell was almost worse than the nightmares about Mrs. Dodds, or the sound of that old fruit lady's shears snipping the yarn.**

**But as soon as I thought that, my legs felt weak. I remembered Grover's look of panic-how he'd made me promise I wouldn't go home without him. A sudden chill rolled through me. I felt like someone-something-was looking for me right now, maybe pounding its way up the stairs, growing long, horrible talons.**

**Then I heard my mom's voice. "Percy?"**

Percy smiled 

**She opened the bedroom door, and my fears melted.**

"Aww" Hera and Hestia said

**My mother can make me feel good just by walking into the room. Her eyes sparkle and change color in the light. Her smile is as warm as a quilt. She's got a few gray streaks mixed in with her long brown hair, but I never think of her as old. When she looks at me, it's like she's seeing all the good things about me, none of the bad. I've never heard her raise her voice or say an unkind word to anyone, not even me or Gabe.**

"She really is the best" Percy smiled

"**Oh, Percy." She hugged me tight. "I can't believe it. You've grown since Christmas!"**

**Her red-white-and-blue Sweet on America uniform smelled like the best things in the world: chocolate, licorice, and all the other stuff she sold at the candy shop in Grand Central. She'd brought me a huge bag of "free samples," the way she always did when I came home.**

**We sat together on the edge of the bed. While I attacked the blueberry sour strings, she ran her hand through my hair and demanded to know everything I hadn't put in my letters. She didn't mention anything about my getting expelled. She didn't seem to care about that. But was I okay? Was her little boy doing all right?**

**I told her she was smothering me, and to lay off and all that, but secretly, I was really, really glad to see her.**

"Boys" Artemis said

**From the other room, Gabe yelled, "Hey, Sally-how about some bean dip, huh?"**

"I really don't like him" Everyone said

"Join the club" Percy said

**I gritted my teeth.**

**My mom is the nicest lady in the world. She should've been married to a millionaire, not to some jerk like Gabe.**

"Which she is now" Percy whispered so only the Demigods could hear

**For her sake, I tried to sound upbeat about my last days at Yancy Academy. I told her I wasn't too down about the expulsion. I'd lasted almost the whole year this time. I'd made some new friends. I'd done pretty well in Latin. And honestly, the fights hadn't been as bad as the headmaster said. I liked Yancy Academy. I really did. I put such a good spin on the year, I almost convinced myself. I started choking up, thinking about Grover and Mr. Brunner. Even Nancy Bobofit suddenly didn't seem so bad.**

**Until that trip to the museum …**

"**What?" my mom asked. Her eyes tugged at my conscience, trying to pull out the secrets. "Did something scare you?"**

"**No, Mom."**

"No lying to your mother" Hera said

"I know" Percy said

**I felt bad lying. I wanted to tell her about Mrs. Dodds and the three old ladies with the yarn, but I thought it would sound stupid.**

**She pursed her lips. She knew I was holding back, but she didn't push me.**

"**I have a surprise for you," she said. "We're going to the beach."**

**My eyes widened. "Montauk?"**

"I love that beach" Percy and Poseidon said

"**Three nights-same cabin."**

"**When?"**

**She smiled. "As soon as I get changed."**

**I couldn't believe it. My mom and I hadn't been to Montauk the last two summers, because Gabe said there wasn't enough money.**

"Yah not enough" Hermes said sarcastically

**Gabe appeared in the doorway and growled, "Bean dip, Sally? Didn't you hear me?"**

**I wanted to punch him, but I met my mom's eyes and I understood she was offering me a deal: be nice to Gabe for a little while. Just until she was ready to leave for Montauk. Then we would get out of here.**

"**I was on my way, honey," she told Gabe. "We were just talking about the trip."**

**Gabe's eyes got small. "The trip? You mean you were serious about that?"**

"**I knew it," I muttered. "He won't let us go."**

"He better let you go!" Everyone said

"Does he?" Nico asked and Percy nodded

"**Of course he will," my mom said evenly. "Your stepfather is just worried about money. That's all. Besides," she added, "Gabriel won't have to settle for bean dip. I'll make him enough seven-layer dip for the whole weekend. Guacamole. Sour cream. The works."**

**Gabe softened a bit. "So this money for your trip … it comes out of your clothes budget, right?"**

"**Yes, honey," my mother said.**

"**And you won't take my car anywhere but there and back."**

"**We'll be very careful."**

**Gabe scratched his double chin. "Maybe if you hurry with that seven-layer dip … And maybe if the kid apologizes for interrupting my poker game."**

**Maybe if I kick you in your soft spot, I thought. And make you sing soprano for a week.**

"You should" Areas and Clarisse said

**But my mom's eyes warned me not to make him mad.**

**Why did she put up with this guy? I wanted to scream. Why did she care what he thought?**

"**I'm sorry," I muttered. "I'm really sorry I interrupted your incredibly important poker game. Please go back to it right now."**

**Gabe's eyes narrowed. His tiny brain was probably trying to detect sarcasm in my statement.**

"If he even has one" Athena said

This got everyone laughing

"**Yeah, whatever," he decided.**

**He went back to his game.**

"**Thank you, Percy," my mom said. "Once we get to Montauk, we'll talk more about… whatever you've forgotten to tell me, okay?"**

**For a moment, I thought I saw anxiety in her eyes-the same fear I'd seen in Grover during the bus ride-as if my mom too felt an odd chill in the air.**

**But then her smile returned, and I figured I must have been mistaken. She ruffled my hair and went to make Gabe his seven-layer dip.**

**An hour later we were ready to leave.**

**Gabe took a break from his poker game long enough to watch me lug my mom's bags to the car. He kept griping and groaning about losing her cooking-and more important, his '78 Camaro-for the whole weekend.**

"**Not a scratch on this car, brain boy," he warned me as I loaded the last bag. "Not one little scratch."**

"Like he'll be the one driving" Nico and Annabeth said

**Like I'd be the one driving. I was twelve. But that didn't matter to Gabe. If a seagull so much as pooped on his paint job, he'd find a way to blame me.**

"He really is an evil man" Grover said

**Watching him lumber back toward the apartment building, I got so mad I did something I can't explain. As Gabe reached the doorway, I made the hand gesture I'd seen Grover make on the bus, a sort of warding-off-evil gesture, a clawed hand over my heart, then a shoving movement toward Gabe. The screen door slammed shut so hard it whacked him in the butt and sent him flying up the staircase as if he'd been shot from a cannon. Maybe it was just the wind, or some freak accident with the hinges, but I didn't stay long enough to find out.**

"How'd you do that?" Thalia asked

"You know I still don't know" Percy said

**I got in the Camaro and told my mom to step on it.**

**Our rental cabin was on the south shore, way out at the tip of Long Island. It was a little pastel box with faded curtains, half sunken into the dunes. There was always sand in the sheets and spiders in the cabinets, and most of the time the sea was too cold to swim in.**

**I loved the place.**

"I do to its where you took me for our first date" Nico said happily

"Yah it's the best place in the world…. Well except for camp half-blood of course" Percy said

**We'd been going there since I was a baby. My mom had been going even longer. She never exactly said, but I knew why the beach was special to her. It was the place where she'd met my dad.**

**As we got closer to Montauk, she seemed to grow younger, years of worry and work disappearing from her face. Her eyes turned the color of the sea.**

"Does that happen to Nico?" Apollo asked

"No" Percy said as a reply

**We got there at sunset, opened all the cabin's windows, and went through our usual cleaning routine. We walked on the beach, fed blue corn chips to the seagulls, and munched on blue jelly beans, blue saltwater taffy, and all the other free samples my mom had brought from work.**

"What's with the blue? That's my color" Zeus ask

**I guess I should explain the blue food.**

"Yes you should" Zeus said

**See, Gabe had once told my mom there was no such thing. They had this fight, which seemed like a really small thing at the time. But ever since, my mom went out of her way to eat blue. She baked blue birthday cakes. She mixed blueberry smoothies. She bought blue-corn tortilla chips and brought home blue candy from the shop. This-along with keeping her maiden name, Jackson, rather than calling herself Mrs. Ugliano-was proof that she wasn't totally suckered by Gabe. She did have a rebellious streak, like me.**

"One of the many reasons why I fell for her" Poseidon said smiling

**When it got dark, we made a fire. We roasted hot dogs and marshmallows. Mom told me stories about when she was a kid, back before her parents died in the plane crash. She told me about the books she wanted to write someday, when she had enough money to quit the candy shop. We even talk about my adopted sister Pyra. Even if she wasn't my really sister she was the best, mom adopted her to keep tabs on me when I was little she used to be my baby sister we would tell each other everything, but know she was in Collage in St. Louis so we can't really communicate that much. **

"Wish I could though it would be nice to know how you were doing" Pyra said

"I know" Percy said

**Eventually, I got up the nerve to ask about what was always on my mind whenever we came to Montauk-my father. Mom's eyes went all misty. I figured she would tell me the same things she always did, but I never got tired of hearing them.**

"**He was kind, Percy," she said. "Tall, handsome, and powerful. But gentle, too. You have his black hair, you know, and his green eyes."**

"That I do" Percy said Proud of his looks which made Poseidon happy

**Mom fished a blue jelly bean out of her candy bag. "I wish he could see you, Percy. He would be so proud."**

"I am" Poseidon said

**I wondered how she could say that. What was so great about me? A dyslexic, hyperactive boy with a D+ report card, kicked out of school for the sixth time in six years.**

"**How old was I?" I asked. "I mean … when he left?"**

**She watched the flames. "He was only with me for one summer, Percy. Right here at this beach. This cabin."**

"**But… he knew me as a baby."**

"Yes I did visit you once" Poseidon said which got him a glare from Zeus

"What I wanted to see him at least one" Poseidon said in defense

"**No, honey. He knew I was expecting a baby, but he never saw you. He had to leave before you were born."**

**I tried to square that with the fact that I seemed to remember … something about my father. A warm glow. A smile.**

**I had always assumed he knew me as a baby. My mom had never said it outright, but still, I'd felt it must be true. Now, to be told that he'd never even seen me …**

**I felt angry at my father. Maybe it was stupid, but I resented him for going on that ocean voyage, for not having the guts to marry my mom. He'd left us, and now we were stuck with Smelly Gabe.**

"Sorry" Poseidon said looking down

"It's ok dad I know why now" Percy said

"**Are you going to send me away again?" I asked her. "To another boarding school?"**

**She pulled a marshmallow from the fire.**

"**I don't know, honey." Her voice was heavy. "I think … I think we'll have to do something."**

"**Because you don't want me around?" I regretted the words as soon as they were out.**

**My mom's eyes welled with tears. She took my hand, squeezed it tight. "Oh, Percy, no. I-I have to, honey. For your own good. I have to send you away."**

**Her words reminded me of what Mr. Brunner had said-that it was best for me to leave Yancy.**

"**Because I'm not normal," I said.**

"**You say that as if it's a bad thing, Percy. But you don't realize how important you are. I thought Yancy Academy would be far enough away. I thought you'd finally be safe."**

"**Safe from what?"**

**She met my eyes, and a flood of memories came back to me-all the weird, scary things that had ever happened to me, some of which I'd tried to forget.**

**During third grade, a man in a black trench coat had stalked me on the playground. When the teachers threatened to call the police, he went away growling, but no one believed me when I told them that under his broad-brimmed hat, the man only had one eye, right in the middle of his head.**

The gods looked at Poseidon "What I wanted to make sure he was ok" was all he said

**Before that-a really early memory. I was in preschool, and a teacher accidentally put me down for a nap in a cot that a snake had slithered into.**

Everyone looked at Hera "Want I didn't do it" she said

**My mom screamed when she came to pick me up and found me playing with a limp, scaly rope I'd somehow managed to strangle to death with my meaty toddler hands.**

**In every single school, something creepy had happened, something unsafe, and I was forced to move.**

**I knew I should tell my mom about the old ladies at the fruit stand, and Mrs. Dodds at the art museum, about my weird hallucination that I had sliced my math teacher into dust with a sword. But I couldn't make myself tell her. I had a strange feeling the news would end our trip to Montauk, and I didn't want that.**

"**I've tried to keep you as close to me as I could," my mom said. "They told me that was a mistake. But there's only one other option, Percy-the place your father wanted to send you. And I just… I just can't stand to do it."**

"**My father wanted me to go to a special school?"**

"**Not a school," she said softly. "A summer camp."**

"CAMP HALF-BLOOD!" All the Demigods said in excitement

**My head was spinning. Why would my dad-who hadn't even stayed around long enough to see me born- talk to my mom about a summer camp? And if it was so important, why hadn't she ever mentioned it before?**

"**I'm sorry, Percy," she said, seeing the look in my eyes. "But I can't talk about it. I-I couldn't send you to that place. It might mean saying good-bye to you for good."**

"**For good? But if it's only a summer camp …"**

**She turned toward the fire, and I knew from her expression that if I asked her any more questions she would start to cry.**

**That night I had a vivid dream.**

**It was storming on the beach, and two beautiful animals, a white horse and a golden eagle, were trying to kill each other at the edge of the surf. The eagle swooped down and slashed the horse's muzzle with its huge talons. The horse reared up and kicked at the eagles wings. As they fought, the ground rumbled, and a monstrous voice chuckled somewhere beneath the earth, goading the animals to fight harder.**

"Seriously what are we fighting about" Zeus ask and Poseidon shrugged

**I ran toward them, knowing I had to stop them from killing each other, but I was running in slow motion. I knew I would be too late. I saw the eagle dive down, its beak aimed at the horse's wide eyes, and I screamed, No!**

**I woke with a start.**

**Outside, it really was storming, the kind of storm that cracks trees and blows down houses. There was no horse or eagle on the beach, just lightning making false daylight, and twenty-foot waves pounding the dunes like artillery.**

"Wow one pock in the eye and you will destroy a whole beach" Zeus said

"Well it probably hurt like Crazy" Poseidon said

**With the next thunderclap, my mom woke. She sat up, eyes wide, and said, "Hurricane."**

**I knew that was crazy. Long Island never sees hurricanes this early in the summer. But the ocean seemed to have forgotten. Over the roar of the wind, I heard a distant bellow, an angry, tortured sound that made my hair stand on end.**

**Then a much closer noise, like mallets in the sand. A desperate voice-someone yelling, pounding on our cabin door.**

**My mother sprang out of bed in her nightgown and threw open the lock.**

**Grover stood framed in the doorway against a backdrop of pouring rain. But he wasn't… he wasn't exactly Grover.**

"Well I had to find you fast" Grover said

"**Searching all night," he gasped. "What were you thinking?"**

**My mother looked at me in terror-not scared of Grover, but of why he'd come.**

"**Percy," she said, shouting to be heard over the rain. "What happened at school? What didn't you tell me?"**

**I was frozen, looking at Grover. I couldn't understand what I was seeing.**

"**O Zeu kai alloi theoi!" he yelled. "It's right behind me! Didn't you tell her?"**

**I was too shocked to register that he'd just cursed in Ancient Greek, and I'd understood him perfectly. I was too shocked to wonder how Grover had gotten here by himself in the middle of the night. Because Grover didn't have his pants on-and where his legs should be … where his legs should be …**

**My mom looked at me sternly and talked in a tone she'd never used before: "Percy. Tell me now!"**

**I stammered something about the old ladies at the fruit stand, and Mrs. Dodds, and my mom stared at me, her face deathly pale in the flashes of lightning.**

**She grabbed her purse, tossed me my rain jacket, and said, "Get to the car. Both of you. Go!"**

**Grover ran for the Camaro-but he wasn't running, exactly. He was trotting, shaking his shaggy hindquarters, and suddenly his story about a muscular disorder in his legs made sense to me. I understood how he could run so fast and still limp when he walked.**

**Because where his feet should be, there were no feet. There were cloven hooves.**

"Done whose next?" Hestia asked

"I'll read" Thalia said taking the book


	6. My mother teaches me how to Bullfight

MY MOTHER TEACHES ME BULLFIGHTING

Who would of thought this Fanfict would get so popular well I hope you continue to like it and I shall try to make as good as it can be but be warned know that I will put thing and change things because it is Percico and the OC so I hope that won't change your minds about reading this and Enjoy.

And as always I do not own the Percy Jackson characters or the book I just own the idea so please Enjoy.

"My Mother teaches me bullfighting" Thalia read

"That doesn't sound good" Poseidon said paling

Nico just grabbed Percy's arm in worry

"Don't worry Nico I'm here" Percy whispered in his ear which got him to calm down, a little

**We tore through the night along dark country roads. Wind slammed against the Camaro. Rain lashed the windshield. I didn't know how my mom could see anything, but she kept her foot on the gas.**

**Every time there was a flash of lightning, I looked at Grover sitting next to me in the backseat and I wondered if I'd gone insane, or if he was wearing some kind of shag-carpet pants. But, no, the smell was one I remembered from kindergarten field trips to the petting zoo- lanolin, like from wool. The smell of a wet barnyard animal.**

"It was weird" Percy said

"Well I was running in the rain you know" Grover said

"I know, I know" Percy said

**All I could think to say was, "So, you and my mom… know each other?"**

"Not exactly" Grover said

**Graver's eyes flitted to the rearview mirror, though there were no cars behind us. "Not exactly," he said. "I mean, we've never met in person. But she knew I was watching you."**

"o…. Someone is a stalker" Conner said which got Travis to laugh

"That's not what I meant and you know that!" Grover said a little angry

"**Watching me?"**

"**Keeping tabs on you. Making sure you were okay. But I wasn't faking being your friend," he added hastily. "I am your friend."**

"That true even to this day" Percy said happily

"**Urn … what are you, exactly?"**

"**That doesn't matter right now."**

"**It doesn't matter? From the waist down, my best friend is a donkey-"**

"Goat" All the Demigods said

"Well I know that know" Percy said

**Grover let out a sharp, throaty "Blaa-ha-ha!"**

**I'd heard him make that sound before, but I'd always assumed it was a nervous laugh. Now I realized it was more of an irritated bleat.**

"**Goat!" he cried.**

"**What?"**

"**I'm a goat from the waist down."**

"**You just said it didn't matter."**

"Burn!" Chris said

"Shut up" Grover said

"**Blaa-ha-ha! There are satyrs who would trample you underhoof for such an insult!"**

"**Whoa. Wait. Satyrs. You mean like … Mr. Brunner's myths?"**

"**Were those old ladies at the fruit stand a myth, Percy? Was Mrs. Dodds a myth?"**

"**So you admit there was a Mrs. Dodds!"**

"Really Percy?" Annabeth said looking at him

"What he was ling to me this whole time and now he admits it" Percy said in his defense

"**Of course."**

"**Then why-"**

"**The less you knew, the fewer monsters you'd attract," Grover said, like that should be perfectly obvious. "We put Mist over the humans' eyes. We hoped you'd think the Kindly One was a hallucination. But it was no good. You started to realize who you are."**

"**Who I-wait a minute, what do you mean?"**

**The weird bellowing noise rose up again somewhere behind us, closer than before. Whatever was chasing us was still on our trail.**

"**Percy," my mom said, "there's too much to explain and not enough time. We have to get you to safety."**

"**Safety from what? Who's after me?"**

"Uncles" was all Percy said

"**Oh, nobody much," Grover said, obviously still miffed about the donkey comment. "Just the Lord of the Dead and a few of his blood-thirstiest minions."**

"**Grover!"**

"**Sorry, Mrs. Jackson. Could you drive faster, please?"**

"Yes Please" Both Nico and Poseidon said

**I tried to wrap my mind around what was happening, but I couldn't do it. I knew this wasn't a dream. I had no imagination. I could never dream up something this weird.**

**My mom made a hard left. We swerved onto a narrower road, racing past darkened farmhouses and wooded hills and PICK YOUR OWN STRAWBERRIES signs on white picket fences.**

"Specking of Strawberries does anyone want any?" Demeter ask

Percy, Annabeth, Athena, Poseidon, and Chris raised their hands and strawberries just appeared

"**Where are we going?" I asked.**

"**The summer camp I told you about." My mother's voice was tight; she was trying for my sake not to be scared. "The place your father wanted to send you."**

"**The place you didn't want me to go."**

"**Please, dear," my mother begged. "This is hard enough. Try to understand. You're in danger."**

"**Because some old ladies cut yarn."**

"That and also the point of fact my Uncle wants to kill me" Percy said

"**Those weren't old ladies," Grover said. "Those were the Fates. Do you know what it means-the fact they appeared in front of you? They only do that when you're about to … when someone's about to die."**

"**Whoa. You said 'you.'"**

"**No I didn't. I said 'someone.'"**

"**You meant 'you.' As in me."**

"**I meant you, like 'someone.' Not you, you."**

"**Boys!" my mom said.**

**She pulled the wheel hard to the right, and I got a glimpse of a figure she'd swerved to avoid-a dark fluttering shape now lost behind us in the storm.**

"**What was that?" I asked.**

"**We're almost there," my mother said, ignoring my question. "Another mile. Please. Please. Please."**

"Please" Poseidon said

**I didn't know where there was, but I found myself leaning forward in the car, anticipating, wanting us to arrive.**

**Outside, nothing but rain and darkness-the kind of empty countryside you get way out on the tip of Long Island. I thought about Mrs. Dodds and the moment when she'd changed into the thing with pointed teeth and leathery wings. My limbs went numb from delayed shock. She really hadn't been human. She'd meant to kill me.**

**Then I thought about Mr. Brunner … and the sword he had thrown me. Before I could ask Grover about that, the hair rose on the back of my neck. There was a blinding flash, a jaw-rattling boom!, and our car exploded.**

"ZEUS!" Hera, Aphrodite, Hestia and Poseidon yelled at him

"Sorry..." Was all he said

**I remember feeling weightless, like I was being crushed, fried, and hosed down all at the same time.**

**I peeled my forehead off the back of the driver's seat and said, "Ow."**

"**Percy!" my mom shouted.**

"**I'm okay…."**

Nico took a deep breath and put his head one Percy's shoulder

**I tried to shake off the daze. I wasn't dead. The car hadn't really exploded. We'd swerved into a ditch. Our driver's-side doors were wedged in the mud. The roof had cracked open like an eggshell and rain was pouring in.**

**Lightning. That was the only explanation. We'd been blasted right off the road. Next to me in the backseat was a big motionless lump. "Grover!"**

**He was slumped over, blood trickling from the side of his mouth. I shook his furry hip, thinking, No! Even if you are half barnyard animal, you're my best friend and I don't want you to die!**

**Then he groaned "Food," and I knew there was hope.**

"**Percy," my mother said, "we have to …" Her voice faltered.**

**I looked back. In a flash of lightning, through the mud-spattered rear windshield, I saw a figure lumbering toward us on the shoulder of the road. The sight of it made my skin crawl. It was a dark silhouette of a huge guy, like a football player. He seemed to be holding a blanket over his head. His top half was bulky and fuzzy. His upraised hands made it look like he had horns.**

**I swallowed hard. "Who is-"**

"**Percy," my mother said, deadly serious. "Get out of the car."**

"Yes get out" Poseidon said

**My mother threw herself against the driver's-side door. It was jammed shut in the mud. I tried mine. Stuck too. I looked up desperately at the hole in the roof. It might've been an exit, but the edges were sizzling and smoking.**

"**Climb out the passenger's side!" my mother told me. "Percy-you have to run. Do you see that big tree?"**

"That would be me" Thalia said

"**What?"**

**Another flash of lightning, and through the smoking hole in the roof I saw the tree she meant: a huge, White House Christmas tree-sized pine at the crest of the nearest hill.**

"**That's the property line," my mom said. "Get over that hill and you'll see a big farmhouse down in the valley. Run and don't look back. Yell for help. Don't stop until you reach the door."**

"**Mom, you're coming too."**

"I wish she could" Poseidon said

**Her face was pale, her eyes as sad as when she looked at the ocean.**

"**No!" I shouted. "You are coming with me. Help me carry Grover."**

"**Food!" Grover moaned, a little louder.**

**The man with the blanket on his head kept coming toward us, making his grunting, snorting noises. As he got closer, I realized he couldn't be holding a blanket over his head, because his hands-huge meaty hands-were swinging at his sides. There was no blanket. Meaning the bulky, fuzzy mass that was too big to be his head … was his head. And the points that looked like horns …**

"**He doesn't want us," my mother told me. "He wants you. Besides, I can't cross the property line."**

"**But…"**

"**We don't have time, Percy. Go. Please."**

**I got mad, then-mad at my mother, at Grover the goat, at the thing with horns that was lumbering toward us slowly and deliberately like, like a bull.**

"That's because it is" Hades said

**I climbed across Grover and pushed the door open into the rain. "We're going together. Come on, Mom."**

"**I told you-"**

"**Mom! I am not leaving you. Help me with Grover."**

**I didn't wait for her answer. I scrambled outside, dragging Grover from the car. He was surprisingly light, but I couldn't have carried him very far if my mom hadn't come to my aid.**

**Together, we draped Grover's arms over our shoulders and started stumbling uphill through wet waist-high grass.**

**Glancing back, I got my first clear look at the monster. He was seven feet tall, easy, his arms and legs like something from the cover of Muscle Man magazine-bulging biceps and triceps and a bunch of other 'ceps, all stuffed like baseballs under vein-webbed skin. He wore no clothes except underwear-I mean, bright white Fruit of the Looms-which would've looked funny,**

The others agreed by laughing

**Except that the top half of his body was so scary. Coarse brown hair started at about his belly button and got thicker as it reached his shoulders.**

**His neck was a mass of muscle and fur leading up to his enormous head, which had a snout as long as my arm, snotty nostrils with a gleaming brass ring, cruel black eyes, and horns-enormous black-and-white horns with points you just couldn't get from an electric sharpener.**

**I recognized the monster, all right. He had been in one of the first stories Mr. Brunner told us. But he couldn't be real.**

"He could" Zeus said

**I blinked the rain out of my eyes. "That's-"**

"**Pasiphae's son," my mother said. "I wish I'd known how badly they want to kill you."**

"**But he's the Min-"**

"**Don't say his name," she warned. "Names have power."**

"Exactly" The gods said

**The pine tree was still way too far-a hundred yards uphill at least.**

**I glanced behind me again.**

**The bull-man hunched over our car, looking in the windows-or not looking, exactly. More like snuffling, nuzzling. I wasn't sure why he bothered, since we were only about fifty feet away.**

"**Food?" Grover moaned.**

"Shut up Grover you're not helping" Katie said

"**Shhh," I told him. "Mom, what's he doing? Doesn't he see us?"**

"**His sight and hearing are terrible," she said. "He goes by smell. But he'll figure out where we are soon enough."**

**As if on cue, the bull-man bellowed in rage. He picked up Gabe's Camaro by the torn roof, the chassis creaking and groaning. He raised the car over his head and threw it down the road. It slammed into the wet asphalt and skidded in a shower of sparks for about half a mile before coming to a stop. The gas tank exploded.**

**Not a scratch, I remembered Gabe saying.**

"Who cares" Nico said still hating that guy for hurting his boyfriend

**Oops.**

"**Percy," my mom said. "When he sees us, he'll charge. Wait until the last second, then jump out of the way- directly sideways. He can't change directions very well once he's charging. Do you understand?"**

"**How do you know all this?"**

"Because she's smart" Athena said

"**I've been worried about an attack for a long time. I should have expected this. I was selfish, keeping you near me."**

"**Keeping me near you? But-"**

**Another bellow of rage, and the bull-man started tromping uphill.**

**He'd smelled us.**

**The pine tree was only a few more yards, but the hill was getting steeper and slicker, and Grover wasn't getting any lighter.**

**The bull-man closed in. Another few seconds and he'd be on top of us.**

**My mother must've been exhausted, but she shouldered Grover. "Go, Percy! Separate! Remember what I said."**

**I didn't want to split up, but I had the feeling she was right-it was our only chance. I sprinted to the left, turned, and saw the creature bearing down on me. His black eyes glowed with hate. He reeked like rotten meat.**

Demeter and Katie went pale at hearing that

**He lowered his head and charged, those razor-sharp horns aimed straight at my chest.**

**The fear in my stomach made me want to bolt, but that wouldn't work. I could never outrun this thing. So I held my ground, and at the last moment, I jumped to the side.**

**The bull-man stormed past like a freight train, then bellowed with frustration and turned, but not toward me this time, toward my mother, who was setting Grover down in the grass.**

**We'd reached the crest of the hill. Down the other side I could see a valley, just as my mother had said and the lights of a farmhouse glowing yellow through the rain. But that was half a mile away. We'd never make it.**

"Don't think like that Percy" Nico said worriedly

"Sorry Nico…." Percy said putting Nico on his lap which he snuggled into the embrace

That really got Aphrodite to sequel

**The bull-man grunted, pawing the ground. He kept eyeing my mother, who was now retreating slowly downhill, back toward the road, trying to lead the monster away from Grover.**

"**Run, Percy!" she told me. "I can't go any farther. Run!"**

**But I just stood there, frozen in fear, as the monster charged her. She tried to sidestep, as she'd told me to do, but the monster had learned his lesson. His hand shot out and grabbed her by the neck as she tried to get away. He lifted her as she struggled, kicking and pummeling the air.**

"**Mom!"**

**She caught my eyes, managed to choke out one last word: "Go!"**

**Then, with an angry roar, the monster closed his fists around my mother's neck, and she dissolved before my eyes, melting into light, a shimmering golden form, as if she were a holographic projection. A blinding flash, and she was simply … gone.**

"WHAT!" Poseidon shouted

All Percy did was put is head on Nico's shoulder 

"**No!"**

**Anger replaced my fear. Newfound strength burned in my limbs-the same rush of energy I'd gotten when Mrs. Dodds grew talons.**

**The bull-man bore down on Grover, who lay helpless in the grass. The monster hunched over, snuffling my best friend, as if he were about to lift Grover up and make him dissolve too.**

**I couldn't allow that.**

Grover laughed lightly "Thanks man"

"No problem anything for a friend" Percy said smiling

**I stripped off my red rain jacket.**

"**Hey!" I screamed, waving the jacket, running to one side of the monster. "Hey, stupid! Ground beef!"**

"**Raaaarrrrr!" The monster turned toward me, shaking his meaty fists.**

**I had an idea-**

"Oh no Percy has an idea everyone" Clarisse said sarcastically

This got everyone but Percy to laugh

**A stupid idea, but better than no idea at all. I put my back to the big pine tree and waved my red jacket in front of the bull-man, thinking I'd jump out of the way at the last moment.**

**But it didn't happen like that.**

**The bull-man charged too fast, his arms out to grab me whichever way I tried to dodge.**

**Time slowed down.**

**My legs tensed. I couldn't jump sideways, so I leaped straight up, kicking off from the creature's head, using it as a springboard, turning in midair, and landing on his neck.**

"How did you do that?" Nico ask

**How did I do that? **

Nico just blushed at that

**I didn't have time to figure it out. A millisecond later, the monster's head slammed into the tree and the impact nearly knocked my teeth out.**

**The bull-man staggered around, trying to shake me. I locked my arms around his horns to keep from being thrown. Thunder and lightning were still going strong. The rain was in my eyes. The smell of rotten meat burned my nostrils.**

"Gross" Demeter said

**The monster shook himself around and bucked like a rodeo bull. He should have just backed up into the tree and smashed me flat, but I was starting to realize that this thing had only one gear: forward.**

**Meanwhile, Grover started groaning in the grass. I wanted to yell at him to shut up, but the way I was getting tossed around, if I opened my mouth I'd bite my own tongue off.**

"**Food!" Grover moaned.**

**The bull-man wheeled toward him, pawed the ground again, and got ready to charge. I thought about how he had squeezed the life out of my mother, made her disappear in a flash of light, and rage filled me like high-octane fuel. I got both hands around one horn and I pulled backward with all my might. The monster tensed, gave a surprised grunt, then-snap!**

**The bull-man screamed and flung me through the air. I landed flat on my back in the grass. My head smacked against a rock. When I sat up, my vision was blurry, but I had a horn in my hands, a ragged bone weapon the size of a knife.**

**The monster charged.**

**Without thinking, I rolled to one side and came up kneeling. As the monster barreled past, I drove the broken horn straight into his side, right up under his furry rib cage.**

**The bull-man roared in agony. He flailed, clawing at his chest, then began to disintegrate-not like my mother, in a flash of golden light, but like crumbling sand, blown away in chunks by the wind, the same way Mrs. Dodds had burst apart.**

**The monster was gone.**

**The rain had stopped. The storm still rumbled, but only in the distance. I smelled like livestock and my knees were shaking. My head felt like it was splitting open. I was weak and scared and trembling with grief I'd just seen my mother vanish. I wanted to lie down and cry, but there was Grover, needing my help, so I managed to haul him up and stagger down into the valley, toward the lights of the farmhouse. I was crying, calling for my mother, but I held on to Grover-I wasn't going to let him go.**

"Again thanks" Grover said

"Again no problem" Percy said

**The last thing I remember is collapsing on a wooden porch, looking up at a ceiling fan circling above me, moths flying around a yellow light, and the stern faces of a familiar-looking bearded man and a pretty girl, her blond hair curled like a princess's.**

"Princess?" Annabeth asked

"What can you blame me?" Percy said

Nico just looked down

**They both looked down at me, and the girl said, "He's the one. He must be."**

"**Silence, Annabeth," the man said. "He's still conscious. Bring him inside."**

"That's the end of this chapter who would like to read next?" Thalia said

"I will" Rachel said and Thalia gave her the book


	7. I Play Pinochle With a Horse

I PLAY PINOCHLE WITH A HORSE

"I Play Pinochle with a horse" Rachel said

Chiron had a feeling it had something to do with him

**I had weird dreams full of barnyard animals. Most of them wanted to kill me. The rest wanted food.**

"That is weird" Will said

"I know" Percy said

**I must've woken up several times, but what I heard and saw made no sense, so I just passed out again. I remember lying in a soft bed, being spoon-fed something that tasted like buttered popcorn, only it was pudding. The girl with curly blond hair hovered over me, smirking as she scraped drips off my chin with the spoon.**

**When she saw my eyes open, she asked, "What will happen at the summer solstice?"**

"Yah what is happening?" The gods ask

Athena was still thinking about it trying to get to a conclusion

**I managed to croak, "What?"**

**She looked around, as if afraid someone would overhear. "What's going on? What was stolen? We've only got a few weeks!"**

Athena gasped finally figuring out what it was "Who stolid it?" she ask

The demigods shook their head "Sorry mom can't tell you" Annabeth said

The other gods were confused

"**I'm sorry," I mumbled, "I don't…"**

**Somebody knocked on the door, and the girl quickly filled my mouth with pudding.**

**The next time I woke up, the girl was gone.**

**A husky blond dude, like a surfer, stood in the corner of the bedroom keeping watch over me. He had blue eyes- at least a dozen of them-on his cheeks, his forehead, the backs of his hands.**

**When I finally came around for good, there was nothing weird about my surroundings, except that they were nicer than I was used to. I was sitting in a deck chair on a huge porch, gazing across a meadow at green hills in the distance. The breeze smelled like strawberries. There was a blanket over my legs, a pillow behind my neck. All that was great, but my mouth felt like a scorpion had been using it for a nest. My tongue was dry and nasty and every one of my teeth hurt.**

"That most feel unconfutable" Jake said and Percy nodded

**On the table next to me was a tall drink. It looked like iced apple juice, with a green straw and a paper parasol stuck through a maraschino cherry.**

**My hand was so weak I almost dropped the glass once I got my fingers around it.**

"**Careful," a familiar voice said.**

**Grover was leaning against the porch railing, looking like he hadn't slept in a week.**

"I didn't" was all Grover said

**Under one arm, he cradled a shoe box. He was wearing blue jeans, Converse hi-tops and a bright orange T-shirt that said CAMP HALF-BLOOD. Just plain old Grover, Not the goat boy.**

"Nope it's not plain old Grover" Thalia said

"Yah I know" Percy said

**So maybe I'd had a nightmare. Maybe my mom was okay. We were still on vacation, and we'd stopped here at this big house for some reason.**

"I wish" Percy said

**And …**

"**You saved my life," Grover said. "I… well, the least I could do … I went back to the hill. I thought you might want this."**

**Reverently, he placed the shoe box in my lap.**

**Inside was a black-and-white bull's horn, the base jagged from being broken off, the tip splattered with dried blood. It hadn't been a nightmare.**

"**The Minotaur," I said.**

"You shouldn't say names" Hermes said

"I know" Percy said

"**Urn, Percy, it isn't a good idea-"**

"**That's what they call him in the Greek myths, isn't it?" I demanded. "The Minotaur. Half man, half bull."**

**Grover shifted uncomfortably. "You've been out for two days. How much do you remember?"**

"Everything" Percy said

Nico just put a hand on is shoulder

"**My mom. Is she really …"**

"No thankfully" Percy said in a whisper so only the other demigods could hear

**He looked down.**

**I stared across the meadow. There were groves of trees, a winding stream, acres of strawberries spread out under the blue sky. The valley was surrounded by rolling hills, and the tallest one, directly in front of us, was the one with the huge pine tree on top. Even that looked beautiful in the sunlight.**

**My mother was gone. The whole world should be black and cold. Nothing should look beautiful.**

"Yah…." Thalia, Annabeth, Grover and Nico agreed with Percy

"**I'm sorry," Grover sniffled. "I'm a failure. I'm-I'm the worst satyr in the world."**

"Never" The demigods said

**He moaned, stomping his foot so hard it came off. I mean, the Converse hi-top came off. The inside was filled with Styrofoam, except for a hoof-shaped hole.**

"**Oh, Styx!" he mumbled.**

"Grover, what would Juniper say" Annabeth said

And Grover looked down embarrassed

**Thunder rolled across the clear sky.**

**As he struggled to get his hoof back in the fake foot, I thought, Well, that settles it.**

**Grover was a satyr. I was ready to bet that if I shaved his curly brown hair, I'd find tiny horns on his head. But I was too miserable to care that satyrs existed, or even Minotaur's.**

"Would you feel the same if it were Nico?" Aphrodite ask

"Definitely" Percy said then kissing Nico on the head which made Nico have a dark red blush 

**All that meant was my mom really had been squeezed into nothingness, dissolved into yellow light.**

**I was alone. An orphan. I would have to live with … Smelly Gabe?**

"Never" Poseidon said

This got Percy to smile a little

**No. That would never happen. I would live on the streets first. I would pretend I was seventeen and join the army. I'd do something.**

**Grover was still sniffling. The poor kid-poor goat, satyr, whatever-looked as if he expected to be hit.**

**I said, "It wasn't your fault."**

"Never G-man" Percy said

"Thanks Perce" Grover said back

"**Yes, it was. I was supposed to protect you."**

"**Did my mother ask you to protect me?"**

"**No. But that's my job. I'm a keeper. At least… I was."**

"Still are" Thalia said

"**But why …" I suddenly felt dizzy, my vision swimming.**

"**Don't strain yourself," Grover said. "Here." He helped me hold my glass and put the straw to my lips.**

**I recoiled at the taste, because I was expecting apple juice. It wasn't that at all. It was chocolate-chip cookies. Liquid cookies. And not just any cookies-my mom's homemade blue chocolate-chip cookies, buttery and hot, with the chips still melting.**

"Mine taste like olives" Annabeth said

"Blue birthday cake for me" Nico said which got Percy to smile

"Hamburgers" Thalia said

"Strawberries" Katie said

"Nachos" Travis said

"Ice-cream" Conner said

"OK guys that's enough you're making me hungry" Apollo said

**Drinking it, my whole body felt warm and good, full of energy. My grief didn't go away, but I felt as if my mom had just brushed her hand against my cheek, given me a cookie the way she used to when I was small, and told me everything was going to be okay.**

"I always loved that feeling" Percy said smiling

**Before I knew it, I'd drained the glass. I stared into it, sure I'd just had a warm drink, but the ice cubes hadn't even melted.**

"**Was it good?" Grover asked.**

**I nodded.**

"**What did it taste like?" He sounded so wistful, I felt guilty.**

"**Sorry," I said. "I should've let you taste."**

"No way am I drinking that" Grover said

**His eyes got wide. "No! That's not what I meant. I just… wondered."**

"**Chocolate-chip cookies," I said. "My mom's. Homemade."**

**He sighed. "And how do you feel?"**

"**Like I could throw Nancy Bobofit a hundred yards."**

"Good" everyone said

"**That's good," he said. "That's good. I don't think you could risk drinking any more of that stuff"**

"**What do you mean?"**

**He took the empty glass from me gingerly, as if it were dynamite, and set it back on the table. "Come on. Chiron and Mr. D are waiting."**

**The porch wrapped all the way around the farmhouse.**

**My legs felt wobbly, trying to walk that far. Grover offered to carry the Minotaur horn, but I held on to it. I'd paid for that souvenir the hard way. I wasn't going to let it go.**

"And I still have it to this day" Percy said

**As we came around the opposite end of the house, I caught my breath.**

**We must've been on the north shore of Long Island, because on this side of the house, the valley marched all the way up to the water, which glittered about a mile in the distance. Between here and there, I simply couldn't process everything I was seeing. The landscape was dotted with buildings that looked like ancient Greek architecture-an open-air pavilion, an amphitheater, a circular arena-except that they all looked brand new, their white marble columns sparkling in the sun. In a nearby sandpit, a dozen high school-age kids and satyrs played volleyball. Canoes glided across a small lake. Kids in bright orange T-shirts like Grover's were chasing each other around a cluster of cabins nestled in the woods. Some shot targets at an archery range. Others rode horses down a wooded trail, and, unless I was hallucinating, some of their horses had wings.**

"Nope wasn't hallucinating seaweed brain" Annabeth said

"I know that" Percy said

**Down at the end of the porch, two men sat across from each other at a card table. The blond-haired girl who'd spoon-fed me popcorn-flavored pudding was leaning on the porch rail next to them.**

**The man facing me was small, but porky. He had a red nose, big watery eyes, and curly hair so black it was almost purple. He looked like those paintings of baby angels- what do you call them, hubbubs? No, cherubs. That's it. He looked like a cherub who'd turned middle-aged in a trailer park. He wore a tiger-pattern Hawaiian shirt, and he would've fit right in at one of Gabe's poker parties, except I got the feeling this guy could've out-gambled even my stepfather.**

"First of all HAY! And second of all I shall take that as a compliment" Dionysus said

"First Sorry Mr. D and second it is" Percy said

"**That's Mr. D," Grover murmured to me. "He's the camp director. Be polite. The girl, that's Annabeth Chase. She's just a camper, but she's been here longer than just about anybody. And you already know Chiron… ."**

**He pointed at the guy whose back was to me.**

**First, I realized he was sitting in the wheelchair. Then I recognized the tweed jacket, the thinning brown hair, the scraggly beard.**

"**Mr. Brunner!" I cried.**

"Didn't you hear me say his name?" Grover asked and Percy nodded

"Yah but I'm so used to Mr. Brunner" Percy said 

**The Latin teacher turned and smiled at me. His eyes had that mischievous glint they sometimes got in class when he pulled a pop quiz and made all the multiple choice answers B.**

"Good time, Good times" Percy said smiling

Annabeth shook her head

"**Ah, good, Percy," he said. "Now we have four for pinochle."**

**He offered me a chair to the right of Mr. D, who looked at me with bloodshot eyes and heaved a great sigh. "Oh, I suppose I must say it. Welcome to Camp Half-Blood. There. Now, don't expect me to be glad to see you."**

"**Uh, thanks." I scooted a little farther away from him because, if there was one thing I had learned from living with Gabe, it was how to tell when an adult has been hitting the happy juice. If Mr. D was a stranger to alcohol, I was a satyr.**

"I'm not I'm just band from it" Dionysus said

"With good reason" Zeus said

"**Annabeth?" Mr. Brunner called to the blond girl.**

**She came forward and Mr. Brunner introduced us. "This young lady nursed you back to health, Percy. Annabeth, my dear, why don't you go check on Percy's bunk? We'll be putting him in cabin eleven for now."**

**Annabeth said, "Sure, Chiron."**

**She was probably my age, maybe a couple of inches taller, and a whole lot more athletic looking. With her deep tan and her curly blond hair, she was almost exactly what I thought a stereotypical California girl would look like, except her eyes ruined the image. They were startling gray, like storm clouds; pretty, but intimidating, too, as if she were analyzing the best way to take me down in a fight.**

"I was" Annabeth said smiling

**She glanced at the Minotaur horn in my hands, then back at me. I imagined she was going to say, you killed a Minotaur! Or Wow, you're so awesome! Or something like that.**

"I your dream Seaweed brain" Annabeth said

**Instead she said, "You drool when you sleep."**

That caused some of them to laugh

**Then she sprinted off down the lawn, her blond hair flying behind her.**

"**So," I said, anxious to change the subject. "You, uh, work here, Mr. Brunner?"**

"**Not Mr. Brunner," the ex-Mr. Brunner said. "I'm afraid that was a pseudonym. You may call me Chiron."**

"**Okay." Totally confused, I looked at the director. "And Mr. D … does that stand for something?"**

**Mr. D stopped shuffling the cards. He looked at me like I'd just belched loudly. "Young man, names are powerful things. You don't just go around using them for no reason."**

"**Oh. Right. Sorry."**

"**I must say, Percy," Chiron-Brunner broke in, "I'm glad to see you alive. It's been a long time since I've made a house call to a potential camper. I'd hate to think I've wasted my time."**

"**House call?"**

"**My year at Yancy Academy, to instruct you. We have satyrs at most schools, of course, keeping a lookout. But Grover alerted me as soon as he met you. He sensed you were something special, so I decided to come upstate. I convinced the other Latin teacher to … ah, take a leave of absence."**

**I tried to remember the beginning of the school year. It seemed like so long ago, but I did have a fuzzy memory of there being another Latin teacher my first week at Yancy. Then, without explanation, he had disappeared and Mr. Brunner had taken the class.**

"**You came to Yancy just to teach me?" I asked.**

**Chiron nodded. "Honestly, I wasn't sure about you at first. We contacted your mother, let her know we were keeping an eye on you in case you were ready for Camp Half-Blood. But you still had so much to learn. Nevertheless, you made it here alive, and that's always the first test."**

"I failed mine" Thalia said

"**Grover," Mr. D said impatiently, "are you playing or not?"**

"**Yes, sir!" Grover trembled as he took the fourth chair, though I didn't know why he should be so afraid of a pudgy little man in a tiger-print Hawaiian shirt.**

Dionysus glared at Percy who just shrugged and moth 'sorry'

"**You do know how to play pinochle?" Mr. D eyed me suspiciously.**

"**I'm afraid not," I said.**

"**I'm afraid not, sir," he said.**

"**Sir," I repeated. I was liking the camp director less and less.**

"Join the club" some of the demigods and gods said

"**Well," he told me, "it is, along with gladiator fighting and Pac-Man, one of the greatest games ever invented by humans. I would expect all civilized young men to know the rules."**

"**I'm sure the boy can learn," Chiron said.**

"**Please," I said, "what is this place? What am I doing here? Mr. Brun-Chiron-why would you go to Yancy Academy just to teach me?"**

**Mr. D snorted. "I asked the same question."**

Some demigods and gods looked at Dionysus

"What it's not like I know that he was Poseidon's son" Dionysus said

**The camp director dealt the cards. Grover flinched every time one landed in his pile.**

**Chiron smiled at me sympathetically, the way he used to in Latin class, as if to let me know that no matter what my average was, I was his star student. He expected me to have the right answer.**

"**Percy," he said. "Did your mother tell you nothing?'**

"**She said …" I remembered her sad eyes, looking out over the sea. "She told me she was afraid to send me here, even though my father had wanted her to. She said that once I was here, I probably couldn't leave. She wanted to keep me close to her."**

"**Typical," Mr. D said. "That's how they usually get killed. Young man, are you bidding or not?"**

Artemis and Hera glared at him

"**What?" I asked.**

**He explained, impatiently, how you bid in pinochle, and so I did.**

"**I'm afraid there's too much to tell," Chiron said. "I'm afraid our usual orientation film won't be sufficient."**

"**Orientation film?" I asked.**

"**No," Chiron decided. "Well, Percy. You know your friend Grover is a satyr. You know"-he pointed to the horn in the shoe box-"that you have killed the Minotaur. No small feat, either, lad. What you may not know is that great powers are at work in your life. Gods-the forces you call the Greek gods-are very much alive."**

**I stared at the others around the table.**

**I waited for somebody to yell, Not! But all I got was Mr. D yelling, "Oh, a royal marriage. Trick! Trick!" He cackled as he tallied up his points.**

"**Mr. D," Grover asked timidly, "if you're not going to eat it, could I have your Diet Coke can?"**

"**Eh? Oh, all right."**

"Is Dionysus being nice?" Apollo asked

"That's a first" Hermes said smiling

"Shut up" Dionysus said

**Grover bit a huge shard out of the empty aluminum can and chewed it mournfully.**

"**Wait," I told Chiron. "You're telling me there's such a thing as God."**

"**Well, now," Chiron said. "God-capital G, God. That's a different matter altogether. We shan't deal with the metaphysical."**

"**Metaphysical? But you were just talking about-"**

"**Ah, gods, plural, as in, great beings that control the forces of nature and human endeavors: the immortal gods of Olympus. That's a smaller matter."**

"Smaller" the gods said sounding offended

"Sorry" Chiron said

"**Smaller?"**

"**Yes, quite. The gods we discussed in Latin class."**

"**Zeus," I said. "Hera. Apollo. You mean them."**

"Why couldn't you say Olympians" Artemis ask

"Yah it makes the rest of us sound less important" Hermes said

"Sorry" Percy said

**And there it was again-distant thunder on a cloudless day.**

"**Young man," said Mr. D, "I would really be less casual about throwing those names around, if I were you."**

"**But they're stories," I said. "They're-myths, to explain lightning and the seasons and stuff. They're what people believed before there was science."**

"**Science!" Mr. D scoffed. "And tell me, Perseus Jackson"**

"That was one of the actual first times he said my name" Percy said

**-I flinched when he said my real name, which I never told anybody-"what will people think of your 'science' two thousand years from now?" Mr. D continued. "Hmm? They will call it primitive mumbo jumbo. That's what. Oh, I love mortals-they have absolutely no sense of perspective. They think they've come so-o-o far. And have they, Chiron? Look at this boy and tell me."**

**I wasn't liking Mr. D much, but there was something about the way he called me mortal, as if… he wasn't.**

"Because I'm not" Dionysus said

**It was enough to put a lump in my throat, to suggest why Grover was dutifully minding his cards, chewing his soda can, and keeping his mouth shut.**

"**Percy," Chiron said, "you may choose to believe or not, but the fact is that immortal means immortal. Can you imagine that for a moment, never dying? Never fading? Existing, just as you are, for all time?"**

**I was about to answer, off the top of my head, that it sounded like a pretty good deal, but the tone of Chiron's voice made me hesitate.**

"**You mean, whether people believed in you or not," I said.**

"**Exactly," Chiron agreed. "If you were a god, how would you like being called a myth, an old story to explain lightning? What if I told you, Perseus Jackson, that someday people would call you a myth, just created to explain how little boys can get over losing their mothers?"**

**My heart pounded. He was trying to make me angry for some reason, but I wasn't going to let him. I said, "I wouldn't like it. But I don't believe in gods."**

"**Oh, you'd better," Mr. D murmured. "Before one of them incinerates you."**

**Grover said, "P-please, sir. He's just lost his mother. He's in shock."**

"**A lucky thing, too," Mr. D grumbled, playing a card. "Bad enough I'm confined to this miserable job, working with boys who don't even believe.'"**

"Yah In the begging me and Mr. D really didn't get along at all" Percy said

**He waved his hand and a goblet appeared on the table, as if the sunlight had bent, momentarily, and woven the air into glass. The goblet filled itself with red wine.**

"Dionysus" Zeus said glaring at him

"Oops" was all he said in return

**My jaw dropped, but Chiron hardly looked up.**

"**Mr. D," he warned, "your restrictions."**

**Mr. D looked at the wine and feigned surprise.**

"**Dear me." He looked at the sky and yelled, "Old habits! Sorry!"**

**More thunder.**

**Mr. D waved his hand again, and the wineglass changed into a fresh can of Diet Coke. He sighed unhappily, popped the top of the soda, and went back to his card game.**

**Chiron winked at me. "Mr. D offended his father a while back, took a fancy to a wood nymph who had been declared off-limits."**

"**A wood nymph," I repeated, still staring at the Diet Coke can like it was from outer space.**

"**Yes," Mr. D confessed. "Father loves to punish me. The first time, Prohibition. Ghastly! Absolutely horrid ten years! The second time-well, she really was pretty, and I couldn't stay away-the second time, he sent me here. Half-Blood Hill. Summer camp for brats like you. 'Be a better influence,' he told me. 'Work with youths rather than tearing them down.' Ha.' Absolutely unfair."**

**Mr. D sounded about six years old, like a pouting little kid.**

Dionysus just shrugged

"**And …" I stammered, "your father is …"**

"**Di immortals, Chiron," Mr. D said. "I thought you taught this boy the basics. My father is Zeus, of course."**

**I ran through D names from Greek mythology. Wine. The skin of a tiger. The satyrs that all seemed to work here. The way Grover cringed, as if Mr. D were his master.**

"**You're Dionysus," I said. "The god of wine."**

Then a wine bottle appeared on Percy's lap

"That tends to happen" Dionysus said in his defense

"Percy give it to me" Poseidon said

Percy throws it at him and he gave it to Zeus

**Mr. D rolled his eyes. "What do they say, these days, Grover? Do the children say, 'Well, duh!'?"**

"**Y-yes, Mr. D."**

"**Then, well, duh! Percy Jackson. Did you think I was Aphrodite, perhaps?"**

Aphrodite looked offended by that and glared at him

"Sorry" Dionysus said

"**You're a god."**

"**Yes, child."**

"**A god. You."**

**He turned to look at me straight on, and I saw a kind of purplish fire in his eyes, a hint that this whiny, plump little man was only showing me the tiniest bit of his true nature. I saw visions of grape vines choking unbelievers to death, drunken warriors insane with battle lust, sailors screaming as their hands turned to flippers, their faces elongating into dolphin snouts. I knew that if I pushed him, Mr. D would show me worse things. He would plant a disease in my brain that would leave me wearing a strait-jacket in a rubber room for the rest of my life.**

"Dionysus if you dare do anything to my son I shall do far worser things to you then what Zeus already has" Poseidon said while glaring at him

Dionysus nodded not wanting to feel Poseidon's rath

"**Would you like to test me, child?" he said quietly.**

"**No. No, sir."**

**The fire died a little. He turned back to his card game. "I believe I win."**

"**Not quite, Mr. D," Chiron said. He set down a straight, tallied the points, and said, "The game goes to me."**

**I thought Mr. D was going to vaporize Chiron right out of his wheelchair, but he just sighed through his nose, as if he were used to being beaten by the Latin teacher. He got up, and Grover rose, too.**

"**I'm tired," Mr. D said. "I believe I'll take a nap before the sing-along tonight. But first, Grover, we need to talk, again, about your less-than-perfect performance on this assignment."**

**Grover's face beaded with sweat. "Y-yes, sir."**

**Mr. D turned to me. "Cabin eleven, Percy Jackson. And mind your manners."**

**He swept into the farmhouse, Grover following miserably.**

"**Will Grover be okay?" I asked Chiron.**

**Chiron nodded, though he looked a bit troubled. "Old Dionysus isn't really mad. He just hates his job. He's been … ah, grounded, I guess you would say, and he can't stand waiting another century before he's allowed to go back to Olympus."**

"**Mount Olympus," I said. "You're telling me there really is a palace there?"**

"**Well now, there's Mount Olympus in Greece. And then there's the home of the gods, the convergence point of their powers, which did indeed used to be on Mount Olympus. It's still called Mount Olympus, out of respect to the old ways, but the palace moves, Percy, just as the gods do."**

"**You mean the Greek gods are here? Like … in America?"**

"**Well, certainly. The gods move with the heart of the West."**

"**The what?"**

Everyone just rolled their eyes at Percy

"**Come now, Percy. What you call 'Western civilization.' Do you think it's just an abstract concept? No, it's a living force. A collective consciousness that has burned bright for thousands of years. The gods are part of it. You might even say they are the source of it, or at least, they are tied so tightly to it that they couldn't possibly fade, not unless all of Western civilization were obliterated. The fire started in Greece. Then, as you well know-or as I hope you know, since you passed my course-the heart of the fire moved to Rome, and so did the gods. Oh, different names, perhaps-Jupiter for Zeus, Venus for Aphrodite, and so on-but the same forces, the same gods."**

"**And then they died."**

"**Died? No. Did the West die? The gods simply moved, to Germany, to France, to Spain, for a while. Wherever the flame was brightest, the gods were there. They spent several centuries in England. All you need to do is look at the architecture. People do not forget the gods. Every place they've ruled, for the last three thousand years, you can see them in paintings, in statues, on the most important buildings. And yes, Percy, of course they are now in your United States. Look at your symbol, the eagle of Zeus. Look at the statue of Prometheus in Rockefeller Center, the Greek facades of your government buildings in Washington. I defy you to find any American city where the Olympians are not prominently displayed in multiple places. Like it or not-and believe me, plenty of people weren't very fond of Rome, either-America is now the heart of the flame. It is the great power of the West. And so Olympus is here. And we are here."**

**It was all too much, especially the fact that I seemed to be included in Chiron's we, as if I were part of some club.**

"**Who are you, Chiron? Who … who am I?"**

"I will never know" Percy said

This got everyone to laugh

**Chiron smiled. He shifted his weight as if he were going to get up out of his wheelchair, but I knew that was impossible. He was paralyzed from the waist down.**

"**Who are you?" he mused. "Well, that's the question we all want answered, isn't it? But for now, we should get you a bunk in cabin eleven. There will be new friends to meet. And plenty of time for lessons tomorrow. Besides, there will be s'mores at the campfire tonight, and I simply adore chocolate."**

"Who doesn't" Everyone said

**And then he did rise from his wheelchair. But there was something odd about the way he did it. His blanket fell away from his legs, but the legs didn't move. His waist kept getting longer, rising above his belt. At first, I thought he was wearing very long, white velvet underwear, but as he kept rising out of the chair, taller than any man, I realized that the velvet underwear wasn't underwear; it was the front of an animal, muscle and sinew under coarse white fur. And the wheelchair wasn't a chair. It was some kind of container, an enormous box on wheels, and it must've been magic, because there's no way it could've held all of him. A leg came out, long and knobby-kneed, with a huge polished hoof. Then another front leg, then hindquarters, and then the box was empty, nothing but a metal shell with a couple of fake human legs attached.**

**I stared at the horse who had just sprung from the wheelchair: a huge white stallion. But where its neck should be was the upper body of my Latin teacher, smoothly grafted to the horse's trunk.**

"**What a relief," the centaur said. "I'd been cooped up in there so long, my fetlocks had fallen asleep. Now, come, Percy Jackson. Let's meet the other campers."**

"Done, whose next?" Rachel ask

"I guess I will" Will said and Rachel gave him the book


	8. I become suprem lord of the Bathroom

I BECOME SUPREME LORD OF THE BATHROOM

"I become supreme lord of the bathroom" Will read

Everyone except for Clarisse, Annabeth and Percy laughed

"This is so not one of my favorite chapters" Clarisse said

**Once I got over the fact that my Latin teacher was a horse, we had a nice tour, though I was careful not to walk behind him. I'd done pooper-scooper patrol in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade a few times, and, I'm sorry, I did not trust Chiron's back end the way I trusted his front.**

Everyone laughed at that

**We passed the volleyball pit. Several of the campers nudged each other. One pointed to the Minotaur horn I was carrying. Another said, "That's him."**

**Most of the campers were older than me. Their satyr friends were bigger than Grover, all of them trotting around in orange CAMP HALF-BLOOD T-shirts, with nothing else to cover their bare shaggy hindquarters. I wasn't normally shy, but the way they stared at me made me uncomfortable. I felt like they were expecting me to do a flip or something.**

**I looked back at the farmhouse. It was a lot bigger than I'd realized-four stories tall, sky blue with white trim, like an upscale seaside resort. I was checking out the brass eagle weather vane on top when something caught my eye, a shadow in the uppermost window of the attic gable. Something had moved the curtain, just for a second, and I got the distinct impression I was being watched.**

"**What's up there?" I asked Chiron.**

**He looked where I was pointing, and his smile faded. "Just the attic."**

"**Somebody lives there?"**

"**No," he said with finality. "Not a single living thing."**

"Well I didn't actually lied" Chiron said

Apollo looked down 'My poor oracle'

**I got the feeling he was being truthful. But I was also sure something had moved that curtain.**

"**Come along, Percy," Chiron said, his lighthearted tone now a little forced. "Lots to see."**

**We walked through the strawberry fields, where campers were picking bushels of berries while a satyr played a tune on a reed pipe.**

**Chiron told me the camp grew a nice crop for export to New York restaurants and Mount Olympus. "It pays our expenses," he explained. "And the strawberries take almost no effort."**

**He said Mr. D had this effect on fruit-bearing plants: they just went crazy when he was around. It worked best with wine grapes, but Mr. D was restricted from growing those, so they grew strawberries instead.**

**I watched the satyr playing his pipe. His music was causing lines of bugs to leave the strawberry patch in every direction, like refugees fleeing a fire. I wondered if Grover could work that kind of magic with music. I wondered if he was still inside the farmhouse, getting chewed out by Mr. D.**

"I was" Grover said

"**Grover won't get in too much trouble, will he?" I asked Chiron. "I mean … he was a good protector. Really."**

"Thanks Percy" Grover said

Percy Nodded while smiling

**Chiron sighed. He shed his tweed jacket and draped it over his horses back like a saddle. "Grover has big dreams, Percy. Perhaps bigger than are reasonable. To reach his goal, he must first demonstrate great courage by succeeding as a keeper, finding a new camper and bringing him safely to Half-Blood Hill."**

"**But he did that!"**

"**I might agree with you," Chiron said. "But it is not my place to judge. Dionysus and the Council of Cloven Elders must decide. I'm afraid they might not see this assignment as a success. After all, Grover lost you in New York. Then there's the unfortunate … ah … fate of your mother. And the fact that Grover was unconscious when you dragged him over the property line. The council might question whether this shows any courage on Grover's part."**

**I wanted to protest. None of what happened was Grover's fault. I also felt really, really guilty. If I hadn't given Grover the slip at the bus station, he might not have gotten in trouble.**

"It's ok Percy you didn't know" Grover said

"Thanks" Percy said

"**He'll get a second chance, won't he?"**

**Chiron winced. "I'm afraid that was Grover's second chance, Percy. The council was not anxious to give him another, either, after what happened the first time, five years ago. Olympus knows, I advised him to wait longer before trying again. He's still so small for his age… ."**

"**How old is he?"**

"**Oh, twenty-eight."**

"**What! And he's in sixth grade?"**

"Shocker" Thalia said sarcastically

"**Satyrs mature half as fast as humans, Percy. Grover has been the equivalent of a middle school student for the past six years."**

"**That's horrible."**

"**Quite," Chiron agreed. "At any rate, Grover is a late bloomer, even by satyr standards, and not yet very accomplished at woodland magic. Alas, he was anxious to pursue his dream. Perhaps now he will find some other career… ."**

"**That's not fair," I said. "What happened the first time? Was it really so bad?"**

**Chiron looked away quickly. "Let's move along, shall we?"**

"It's a case of the 'Girl that shall not be named'" Percy said while smiling

"HAY!" Thalia said while laughing

**But I wasn't quite ready to let the subject drop. Something had occurred to me when Chiron talked about my mother's fate, as if he were intentionally avoiding the word death. The beginnings of an idea-a tiny, hopeful fire-started forming in my mind.**

"**Chiron," I said. "If the gods and Olympus and all that are real …"**

"**Yes, child?"**

"**Does that mean the Underworld is real, too?"**

"Yep" Nico said

**Chiron's expression darkened.**

"**Yes, child." He paused, as if choosing his words carefully. "There is a place where spirits go after death. But for now … until we know more … I would urge you to put that out of your mind."**

"**What do you mean, 'until we know more'?"**

"**Come, Percy. Let's see the woods."**

**As we got closer, I realized how huge the forest was. It took up at least a quarter of the valley, with trees so tall and thick, you could imagine nobody had been in there since the Native Americans.**

**Chiron said, "The woods are stocked, if you care to try your luck, but go armed."**

"**Stocked with what?" I asked. "Armed with what?"**

"**You'll see. Capture the flag is Friday night. Do you have your own sword and shield?"**

"**My own-?"**

"**No," Chiron said. "I don't suppose you do. I think a size five will do. I'll visit the armory later."**

**I wanted to ask what kind of summer camp had an armory, but there was too much else to think about, so the tour continued. We saw the archery range, the canoeing lake, the stables (which Chiron didn't seem to like very much), the javelin range, the sing-along amphitheater, and the arena where Chiron said they held sword and spear fights.**

"**Sword and spear fights?" I asked.**

"**Cabin challenges and all that," he explained. "Not lethal. Usually. Oh, yes, and there's the mess hall."**

**Chiron pointed to an outdoor pavilion framed in white Grecian columns on a hill overlooking the sea. There were a dozen stone picnic tables. No roof. No walls.**

"**What do you do when it rains?" I asked.**

Everyone looked at Percy as if he had gone crazy but Percy apparently fell asleep

"How did he do that"? Thalia asked

"I don't know but do you think he will notes if we draw on his face?" Travis asked

"Yes he would" Percy said in his sleep

"Really, how?" Thalia ask and everyone shrugged

**Chiron looked at me as if I'd gone a little weird. "We still have to eat, don't we?" I decided to drop the subject.**

**Finally, he showed me the cabins. There were twelve of them, nestled in the woods by the lake. They were arranged in a U, with two at the base and five in a row on either side. And they were without doubt the most bizarre collection of buildings I'd ever seen.**

**Except for the fact that each had a large brass number above the door (odds on the left side, evens on the right), they looked absolutely nothing alike. Number nine had smokestacks, like a tiny factory. Number four had tomato vines on the walls and a roof made out of real grass. Seven seemed to be made of solid gold, which gleamed so much in the sunlight it was almost impossible to look at. They all faced a commons area about the size of a soccer field, dotted with Greek statues, fountains, flower beds, and a couple of basketball hoops (which were more my speed).**

**In the center of the field was a huge stone-lined firepit. Even though it was a warm afternoon, the hearth smoldered. A girl about nine years old was tending the flames, poking the coals with a stick.**

"You actually notes me?" Hestia ask in surprised

"Yep" Percy said still asleep which Hestia smiled at that

**The pair of cabins at the head of the field, numbers one and two, looked like his-and-hers mausoleums, big white marble boxes with heavy columns in front. Cabin one was the biggest and bulkiest of the twelve. Its polished bronze doors shimmered like a hologram, so that from different angles lightning bolts seemed to streak across them. Cabin two was more graceful somehow, with slimmer columns garlanded with pomegranates and flowers. The walls were carved with images of peacocks.**

"**Zeus and Hera?" I guessed.**

"**Correct," Chiron said.**

"**Their cabins look empty."**

"**Several of the cabins are. That's true. No one ever stays in one or two."**

**Okay. So each cabin had a different god, like a mascot. Twelve cabins for the twelve Olympians. But why would some be empty?**

**I stopped in front of the first cabin on the left, cabin three.**

**It wasn't high and mighty like cabin one, but long and low and solid. The outer walls were of rough gray stone studded with pieces of seashell and coral, as if the slabs had been hewn straight from the bottom of the ocean floor. I peeked inside the open doorway and Chiron said, "Oh, I wouldn't do that!"**

"I still did" Percy said still asleep

**Before he could pull me back, I caught the salty scent of the interior, like the wind on the shore at Montauk. The interior walls glowed like abalone. There were six empty bunk beds with silk sheets turned down. But there was no sign anyone had ever slept there. The place felt so sad and lonely, I was glad when Chiron put his hand on my shoulder and said, "Come along, Percy."**

**Most of the other cabins were crowded with campers.**

**Number five was bright red-a real nasty paint job, as if the color had been splashed on with buckets and fists. The roof was lined with barbed wire. A stuffed wild boar's head hung over the doorway, and its eyes seemed to follow me. Inside I could see a bunch of mean-looking kids, both girls and boys, arm wrestling and arguing with each other while rock music blared. The loudest was a girl maybe thirteen or fourteen. She wore a size XXXL CAMP HALF-BLOOD T-shirt under a camouflage jacket. She zeroed in on me and gave me an evil sneer. She reminded me of Nancy Bobofit, though the camper girl was much bigger and tougher looking, and her hair was long and stringy, and brown instead of red.**

**I kept walking, trying to stay clear of Chiron's hooves. "We haven't seen any other centaurs," I observed.**

"**No," said Chiron sadly. "My kinsmen are a wild and barbaric folk, I'm afraid. You might encounter them in the wilderness, or at major sporting events. But you won't see any here."**

"**You said your name was Chiron. Are you really …"**

**He smiled down at me. "The Chiron from the stories? Trainer of Hercules and all that? Yes, Percy, I am."**

"**But, shouldn't you be dead?"**

**Chiron paused, as if the question intrigued him. "I honestly don't know about should be. The truth is, I can't be dead. You see, eons ago the gods granted my wish. I could continue the work I loved. I could be a teacher of heroes as long as humanity needed me. I gained much from that wish … and I gave up much. But I'm still here, so I can only assume I'm still needed."**

**I thought about being a teacher for three thousand years. It wouldn't have made my Top Ten Things to Wish For list.**

"Definitely not" Nico and Thalia said looking horrified at each other

"**Doesn't it ever get boring?"**

"**No, no," he said. "Horribly depressing, at times, but never boring."**

"**Why depressing?"**

**Chiron seemed to turn hard of hearing again.**

"**Oh, look," he said. "Annabeth is waiting for us."**

**The blond girl I'd met at the Big House was reading a book in front of the last cabin on the left, number eleven.**

**When we reached her, she looked me over critically, like she was still thinking about how much I drooled.**

"Which is weird that he doesn't drool know" Annabeth said looking at Percy how was still asleep

"Maybe Nico was an influence on him" Thalia said

All Nico did was shrugged not really knowing himself

**I tried to see what she was reading, but I couldn't make out the title. I thought my dyslexia was acting up. Then I realized the title wasn't even English. The letters looked Greek to me. I mean, literally Greek. There were pictures of temples and statues and different kinds of columns, like those in an architecture book.**

"**Annabeth," Chiron said, "I have masters' archery class at noon. Would you take Percy from here?"**

"**Yes, sir."**

"**Cabin eleven," Chiron told me, gesturing toward the doorway. "Make yourself at home."**

**Out of all the cabins, eleven looked the most like a regular old summer camp cabin, with the emphasis on old. The threshold was worn down, the brown paint peeling. Over the doorway was one of those doctor's symbols, a winged pole with two snakes wrapped around it. What did they call it… ? A caduceus.**

"Yep" Hermes said happily

**Inside, it was packed with people, both boys and girls, way more than the number of bunk beds. Sleeping bags were spread all over on the floor. It looked like a gym where the Red Cross had set up an evacuation center.**

"I'm serious guys clam your kids" Hermes said

**Chiron didn't go in. The door was too low for him. But when the campers saw him they all stood and bowed respectfully.**

"**Well, then," Chiron said. "Good luck, Percy. I'll see you at dinner."**

**He galloped away toward the archery range.**

**I stood in the doorway, looking at the kids. They weren't bowing anymore. They were staring at me, sizing me up. I knew this routine. I'd gone through it at enough schools.**

"**Well?" Annabeth prompted. "Go on."**

**So naturally I tripped coming in the door and made a total fool of myself. There were some snickers from the campers, but none of them said anything.**

**Annabeth announced, "Percy Jackson, meet cabin eleven.**

"**Regular or undetermined?" somebody asked.**

**I didn't know what to say, but Annabeth said, "Undetermined."**

**Everybody groaned.**

**A guy who was a little older than the rest came forward. "Now, now, campers. That's what we're here for. Welcome, Percy. You can have that spot on the floor, right over there."**

**The guy was about nineteen, and he looked pretty cool. He was tall and muscular, with short-cropped sandy hair and a friendly smile. He wore an orange tank top, cutoffs, sandals, and a leather necklace with five different-colored clay beads. The only thing unsettling about his appearance was a thick white scar that ran from just beneath his right eye to his jaw, like an old knife slash.**

"**This is Luke," Annabeth said, and her voice sounded different somehow. I glanced over and could've sworn she was blushing. She saw me looking, and her expression hardened again. "He's your counselor for now."**

"Do I sense that she has a crush on the guy" Aphrodite said smiling

"No/Yes" Annabeth and Percy said

Annabeth glanced at Percy to see he walk up

"When did you wake up?" Annabeth ask shocked

"A few seconds ago" was all Percy said

"**For now?" I asked.**

"**You're undetermined," Luke explained patiently. "They don't know what cabin to put you in, so you're here. Cabin eleven takes all newcomers, all visitors. Naturally, we would. Hermes, our patron, is the god of travelers."**

**I looked at the tiny section of floor they'd given me. I had nothing to put there to mark it as my own, no luggage, no clothes, no sleeping bag. Just the Minotaur's horn. I thought about setting that down, but then I remembered that Hermes was also the god of thieves.**

**I looked around at the campers' faces, some sullen and suspicious, some grinning stupidly, some eyeing me as if they were waiting for a chance to pick my pockets.**

"**How long will I be here?" I asked.**

"**Good question," Luke said. "Until you're determined."**

"**How long will that take?"**

**The campers all laughed.**

"I wouldn't" some of the others said

"**Come on," Annabeth told me. "I'll show you the volleyball court."**

"**I've already seen it."**

"**Come on." She grabbed my wrist and dragged me outside. I could hear the kids of cabin eleven laughing behind me.**

**When we were a few feet away, Annabeth said, "Jackson, you have to do better than that."**

"**What?"**

**She rolled her eyes and mumbled under her breath, "I can't believe I thought you were the one."**

"**What's your problem?" I was getting angry now. "All I know is, I kill some bull guy-"**

"**Don't talk like that!" Annabeth told me. "You know how many kids at this camp wish they'd had your chance?"**

"**To get killed?"**

"Yes because everyone what's to get killed" Jake said sarcastically

"**To fight the Minotaur! What do you think we train for?"**

**I shook my head. "Look, if the thing I fought really was the Minotaur, the same one in the stories …"**

"**Yes."**

"**Then there's only one."**

"**Yes."**

"**And he died, like, a gajillion years ago, right? Theseus killed him in the labyrinth. So …"**

"**Monsters don't die, Percy. They can be killed. But they don't die."**

"One of the most aggravating things about them" Chris said and the others agreed

"**Oh, thanks. That clears it up."**

"**They don't have souls, like you and me. You can dispel them for a while, maybe even for a whole lifetime if you're lucky. But they are primal forces. Chiron calls them archetypes. Eventually, they re-form."**

**I thought about Mrs. Dodds. "You mean if I killed one, accidentally, with a sword-"**

"**The Fur … I mean, your math teacher. That's right. She's still out there. You just made her very, very mad."**

"You know sometimes I feel like she's still watching me to kill me" Percy said

"Percy….." Nico said still worried about him

"Hey don't worry about it, I'll be fine" Percy said with a smile which Nico returned

"**How did you know about Mrs. Dodds?"**

"**You talk in your sleep."**

"He still does" Annabeth said

"I do?" Percy ask and the others nodded and he just shrugged

"**You almost called her something. A Fury? They're Hades' torturers, right?"**

**Annabeth glanced nervously at the ground, as if she expected it to open up and swallow her. "You shouldn't call them by name, even here. We call them the Kindly Ones, if we have to speak of them at all."**

"**Look, is there anything we can say without it thundering?" I sounded whiny, even to myself, but right then I didn't care. "Why do I have to stay in cabin eleven, anyway? Why is everybody so crowded together? There are plenty of empty bunks right over there."**

"Exactly people clam your kids so I don't have so many in mine!" Hermes said to all of the

A few nodded and snapped their fingers "there" they said

**I pointed to the first few cabins, and Annabeth turned pale. "You don't just choose a cabin, Percy. It depends on who your parents are. Or … your parent."**

**She stared at me, waiting for me to get it.**

"**My mom is Sally Jackson," I said. "She works at the candy store in Grand Central Station. At least, she used to."**

"**I'm sorry about your mom, Percy. But that's not what I mean. I'm talking about your other parent. Your dad."**

"**He's dead. I never knew him."**

"Not true anymore" Percy said and Poseidon smiled

**Annabeth sighed. Clearly, she'd had this conversation before with other kids. "Your father's not dead, Percy."**

"**How can you say that? You know him?"**

"**No, of course not."**

"Considering the fact that I didn't see it coming" Annabeth said

And a few nodded

"**Then how can you say-"**

"**Because I know you. You wouldn't be here if you weren't one of us."**

"**You don't know anything about me."**

"**No?" She raised an eyebrow. "I bet you moved around from school to school. I bet you were kicked out of a lot of them."**

"**How-"**

"Because I've been throw the same" Annabeth said

"I know that now Ann" Percy said

"**Diagnosed with dyslexia. Probably ADHD, too."**

**I tried to swallow my embarrassment. "What does that have to do with anything?"**

"**Taken together, it's almost a sure sign. The letters float off the page when you read, right? That's because your mind is hardwired for ancient Greek. And the ADHD-you're impulsive, can't sit still in the classroom. That's your battlefield reflexes. In a real fight, they'd keep you alive. As for the attention problems, that's because you see too much, Percy, not too little. Your senses are better than a regular mortal's. Of course the teachers want you medicated. Most of them are monsters. They don't want you seeing them for what they are."**

"**You sound like … you went through the same thing?"**

"**Most of the kids here did. If you weren't like us, you couldn't have survived the Minotaur, much less the ambrosia and nectar."**

"**Ambrosia and nectar."**

"**The food and drink we were giving you to make you better. That stuff would've killed a normal kid. It would've turned your blood to fire and your bones to sand and you'd be dead. Face it. You're a half-blood."**

**A half-blood.**

**I was reeling with so many questions I didn't know where to start.**

**Then a husky voice yelled, "Well! A newbie!"**

"And here we go" Percy said

And Clarisse nodded

**I looked over. The big girl from the ugly red cabin was sauntering toward us. She had three other girls behind her, all big and ugly and mean looking like her, all wearing camo jackets.**

Clarisse glared at Percy

"What I did know you so we'll at the time" Percy said

"**Clarisse," Annabeth sighed. "Why don't you go polish your spear or something?"**

"**Sure, Miss Princess," the big girl said. "So I can run you through with it Friday night."**

"**Erre es korakas!" Annabeth said, which I somehow understood was Greek for 'Go to the crows!'**

"That was terrible Annabeth" Thalia said

"I know it wasn't my greatest comebacks" Annabeth said in return

**Though I had a feeling it was a worse curse than it sounded. "You don't stand a chance."**

"**We'll pulverize you," Clarisse said, but her eye twitched. Perhaps she wasn't sure she could follow through on the threat. She turned toward me. "Who's this little runt?"**

"**Percy Jackson," Annabeth said, "Meet Clarisse, Daughter of Ares."**

**I blinked. "Like … the war god?"**

Everyone looked at Percy

"What I was still trying to remember who the gods of what" Percy said

**Clarisse sneered. "You got a problem with that?"**

"**No," I said, recovering my wits. "It explains the bad smell."**

"You're trying to get yourself killed aren't you" Everyone said

"Yep" Percy said with a smile which got him a slap from Nico

**Clarisse growled. "We got an initiation ceremony for newbies, Prissy."**

"**Percy."**

"**Whatever. Come on, I'll show you."**

"**Clarisse-" Annabeth tried to say.**

"**Stay out of it, wise girl."**

"So that's how the legend of wise girl began" Conner said

The rest nodded

**Annabeth looked pained, but she did stay out of it, and I didn't really want her help. I was the new kid. I had to earn my own rep.**

"And I did" Percy said smiling

**I handed Annabeth my minotaur horn and got ready to fight, but before I knew it, Clarisse had me by the neck and was dragging me toward a cinder-block building that I knew immediately was the bathroom.**

**I was kicking and punching. I'd been in plenty of fights before, but this big girl Clarisse had hands like iron. She dragged me into the girls' bathroom. There was a line of toilets on one side and a line of shower stalls down the other. It smelled just like any public bathroom, and I was thinking-as much as I could think with Clarisse ripping my hair out-that if this place belonged to the gods, they should've been able to afford classier johns.**

**Clarisse's friends were all laughing, and I was trying to find the strength I'd used to fight the Minotaur, but it just wasn't there.**

"**Like he's 'Big Three' material," Clarisse said as she pushed me toward one of the toilets. "Yeah, right. Minotaur probably fell over laughing, he was so stupid looking."**

"I was a big jerk in the beginning wasn't I?" Clarisse ask and Percy nodded

"Yah but we became semi friends later on" Percy said and Clarisse nodded

**Her friends snickered.**

**Annabeth stood in the corner, watching through her fingers.**

**Clarisse bent me over on my knees and started pushing my head toward the toilet bowl. It reeked like rusted pipes and, well, like what goes into toilets. I strained to keep my head up. I was looking at the scummy water, thinking, I will not go into that. I won't.**

"It would have been offal….." Percy said looking down

Nico notes this "Percy what's wrong?" He ask in worry but Percy shock his head

"It's noting Nic's just old stuff nothing to worry about" Percy said with a smile but Nico wasn't convinced

**Then something happened. I felt a tug in the pit of my stomach. I heard the plumbing rumble, the pipes shudder. Clarisse's grip on my hair loosened. Water shot out of the toilet, making an arc straight over my head, and the next thing I knew, I was sprawled on the bathroom tiles with Clarisse screaming behind me.**

**I turned just as water blasted out of the toilet again, hitting Clarisse straight in the face so hard it pushed her down onto her butt. The water stayed on her like the spray from a fire hose, pushing her backward into a shower stall.**

**She struggled, gasping, and her friends started coming toward her. But then the other toilets exploded, too, and six more streams of toilet water blasted them back. The showers acted up, too, and together all the fixtures sprayed the camouflage girls right out of the bathroom, spinning them around like pieces of garbage being washed away.**

"How did you do that anyway?" Clarisse ask

Percy just shrugged not actually knowing himself

**As soon as they were out the door, I felt the tug in my gut lessen, and the water shut off as quickly as it had started.**

**The entire bathroom was flooded. Annabeth hadn't been spared. She was dripping wet, but she hadn't been pushed out the door. She was standing in exactly the same place, staring at me in shock.**

"It was surprising" Annabeth said

**I looked down and realized I was sitting in the only dry spot in the whole room. There was a circle of dry floor around me. I didn't have one drop of water on my clothes. Nothing.**

**I stood up, my legs shaky.**

**Annabeth said, "How did you …"**

"**I don't know."**

**We walked to the door. Outside, Clarisse and her friends were sprawled in the mud, and a bunch of other campers had gathered around to gawk. Clarisse's hair was flattened across her face. Her camouflage jacket was sopping and she smelled like sewage. She gave me a look of absolute hatred. "You are dead, new boy. You are totally dead."**

"Well considering I do help you out sometimes" Percy said

"I know, and I'm grateful" Clarisse said

**I probably should have let it go, but I said, "You want to gargle with toilet water again, Clarisse? Close your mouth."**

**Her friends had to hold her back. They dragged her toward cabin five, while the other campers made way to avoid her flailing feet.**

**Annabeth stared at me. I couldn't tell whether she was just grossed out or angry at me for dousing her.**

"I wasn't" Annabeth said

"**What?" I demanded. "What are you thinking?"**

"**I'm thinking," she said, "that I want you on my team for capture the flag."**

"End, who's next?" Will ask

"I will" Katie said which will gave her the book


	9. Note

**Note***

**A little tip to let you all know this might be my last chapter because apparently Fanfiction rules do not like this story so this may be my last post so if it is I'm sorry and can you guys please send some reviews and I hope you like the most likely chapter. Thank you. **


	10. The Trip

The Trip

Before Katie could begin to read the next chapter a note came out of nowhere and landed right in front of Rachel and she read it out loud:

**Dear demigods and gods,**

**The fates and I have decided that it's time some of you knew about Percy's past so were going to send a few of you there and it will be Percy's choose to pick who will go so choose wisely o and you can only send eight.**

**Apollo and the Fates **

Everyone looked at Percy who was looking down with a sad expression on his face "Percy if you don't what to do this you don't have to" Nico said worried even though he would like to know more but his boyfriends happiness comes first just like he always did for him. Percy just shook his head "No you guys deserve to know the truth" Percy said with a sign "Ok then Percy who would you like to go and remember only eight" Athena said and Percy nodded. With a big sign Percy looked up "I would like Annabeth and Grover to go" he said which got both of them shocked "Are you sure Percy?" Grover ask and he nodded "Yah you to are me very first friends so I want you to go" Percy said with a smile and they nodded "I would also like Thalia and Nico to go" Percy said "Ok I can understand Nico but, Why me?" Thalia ask "Because your my favorite cousin" He said and she nodded with a smile "Clarisse and Rachel" Percy said and they nodded "And finally Pyra and dad" Percy said with a smile. Pyra nodded but Poseidon was shocked "you wish for me to go Percy?" He asked and Percy nodded "Yes and don't thing I'm allowing you to go for any payback I just… I just what you to know what happen it's the least I can do and besides you're going to forget anyway" Percy said and Poseidon nodded and with a big flash they were gone.

The rest that were still there just waited until Hermes said something "Ok I'm getting bored" He said and the others nodded "Well I'm going to the library, father will you call us when you since the others are back?" Athena ask and Zeus nodded and with a flash Athena was gone "We'll I'm going to the gardens" Demeter said "Katie would you like to accompany me?" She asked and Katie nodded leaving the book with the book mark in it and walking with her mother. Then it was Artemis turn "I'm going to go check on my hunters" she said then also disappearing "I'm going back to the underworld" Hades said before also disappearing then Zeus fallowed and left for other matter and Hera went with him Areas when to go train, Hephaestus went to his workshop with Jake, Aphrodite went to her room to take a nap, and Dionysus and Chiron when to camp to make sure nothing bad happened. That just left Will, the Stoll's, Chris, Percy, Hermes and Apollo "So what do you guys what to do?" Hermes asked and they shrugged but then Apollo got an idea "Hey I have an idea why don't we take a trip?" Apollo asked and they looked confused but then Hermes understood and nodded "Yah that's actually a good idea it could cheer them up especially Percy" Hermes said smiling but the demigods were still confused "Hey kids how about we take a trip to ORLADO, FLORIDA!" Both Hermes and Apollo said them demigods were shocked at first but then they all cheered and said yes "Cool I've always wanted to see Florida" Percy said and the gods nodded "Exactly why we thought of it" Hermes said before teleporting them all to Florida.

**With the others **

When the lights disappeared the eight opened there eyes to see that they were in a cramped apartment building and a very smelly one at that "I'm serious how did thoughts two survive with this smell?" Thalia asked holding her nose as did the others. Clarisse looked outside to see it was night time "It's about 11:00" Annabeth said that's when they heard the door opened to see a very ugly and smelly guy "Please don't tell me Sally married that!" Poseidon said but no one answer because they didn't know. Gabe looked around "Sally where are you?!" He shouted and everyone just glared at him not liking hem at all. When Gabe got no answer he shouted again, and again "Dame Woman where are you!?" He shouted that made Poseidon, Thalia, Annabeth and Nico glare harden because Sally was the niece's person in the world and didn't deserve that guy. Then they heard another door open and when they turn to see it was a young Percy with a blue PJ rubbing his eyes "Aww Percy was so cute" Annabeth said and the others agreed. Gabe noticed Percy and turned towards him "Hey brat where's your mother?" He asked "Mommy's still at work, she said she won't be back until midnight" Young Percy said still a little bit sleepy "Oh is she well then where is your fake big sis?" Gabe said and Percy tried to glare at him "She is not fake and she studding for a test" Percy said and Pyra smiled seeing that her little brother was actually defending her "Lesson you little brat did your mom give birth to her or got her from the street?" Gabe asked "Nether" Pyra said not liking that Gabe was talking to Percy like that and the others didn't seem to like it either. Percy didn't answer and Gabe just laughed "Exactly kid she's just a fake" Gabe said "Well at least she's more family then you'll ever be!" Percy yelled and then she screamed and fell on the floor because Gabe slapped him across the face and Percy was now crying the demigods, girl, satyr and god that were in the room were now angry at Gabe even more especially Poseidon and Nico "Do you really think you can talk like that to me you little piece of sh****!" Gabe said yelling at Percy who was now shaking in fear before kicking Percy in the stomach. Just then the door opened to reveal a younger version of Pyra who looked shock at first but then glared at Gabe "Gabe what are you doing!" Pyra yelled before running to Percy who hugged her titer "Oh nothing just reminding him were his place is in this house hold" Gabe said before turning to the door "Tell your mother I'll be back later" He said before leaving and left the two alone.

Then the room disappeared and the others were still there "Wow I didn't know Percy's life was that hard" Rachel said and the others nodded "Yah but is that it?" Annabeth asked and to answer her question the Apartment came back but this time Percy looked eight instead of five and he was using a laptop "Hay if they didn't have any money then how come he has a laptop?" Thalia asked "It's actually mine I won it in a contest" Pyra said "But then I let Percy have it before going to collage" She finished but before anyone could say anything else the door knob began to wiggle and Percy herd this and close it and hid it deep under the couch and just looked out the window before the door actually opened to reveal Gabe again. Gabe saw that Percy was just looking out the window he grunted "Honestly you little brat do you even do anything useful?" he asked and Percy looked at him "Well I already finished my homework so there's nothing else to do" Percy said and Gabe just laughed "You did your homework?" he asked still laughing and Percy nodded "You, no way could you possible do your homework your too stupid to actually do it" Gabe said laughing even harder. The demigods and god that were watching this wanted to so badly kill him "Can I please kill him" Thalia and Nico said "As much as we would like to we can't, unfortunately he's the only thing keeping Percy alive so we can't love to but can't" Grover said in frustration the others had to nodded at that "I'm not stupid!" Percy yelled but Gabe was still laughing "Yah you are I bet you won't have a great life" He said "W-what do you mean?" Percy asked as he was beginning to cry "Just what I said you'll never amount to anything you'll never have friends, you'll never find love and you know why?" Gabe asked but Percy was too afraid to answer "Because your too stupid, and I'm willing to bet that no one would even talk to you because you're a loser, you have nothing and what's that last thing….Oh yah your also a moron" Gabe said and at that point Percy was actually full out crying and Everyone there looked like they were getting ready to kill Gabe right there and then "You know I'm even going to say that your "sister" wanted to leave because she didn't want to be around you anymore, oh and your mother probable what's you died because you make her life miserable" Gabe said laughing "My sister loved me she left because she didn't what to be around you!" Percy yelled throw tears "My mother also loves me she would never want me died! She probable rather have you dead!" Percy said.

Then Gabe grabbed Percy buy the Hair and Percy screamed from the pain "Now lesson her you piece of sh*** this is my house so you play by my rules and the first rule is to never talk back to me like that or else you get to have a little swim" Gabe said before dragging Percy to the Bathroom with him Screaming and begging for him to let him go but he didn't and continued to drag Percy and the other could only watch in horror as he did. They watch as Percy's head was being dunk into and out of the toilet. At that point Nico was crying and couldn't bear to look at this anymore but unfortunately it wasn't over there was more some were worse than other and all they could do was watch as it happen.

When it was over they were back in the throne room of Olympus looking around "Were is everyone?" Annabeth asked and the other's shrugged "Well it's about time you eight got back" a voice boomed in the room then Zeus and Hera appeared on their thrones "What took you guys so long?" Hera asked "What do you mean we've only been gone for twenty minutes" Grover said but Zeus shock his head "No you've been gone Twenty hours the day's already gone" Zeus said which shocked everyone "What but that's not possible" Rachel said "Oh but it is" Athena said appearing on her throne then everyone else including Katie and Jake got back but Apollo, Hermes, Will, Travis, Conner, Chris and Hermes were no were to be seen "Were Is that lazy brother of mine?" Artemis asked but no one seemed to know.

Just then another flash of light came out of know we're and the other's were there wearing, Disney stuff "Were where you guys?" Thalia asked "We were in the magic kingdom, Animal kingdom, Hollywood studios etc" Apollo said "Wait you guys went to Disney without us?" Rachel asked and the other's just nodded "Yes but we did bring back souvenirs" Conner said holding up bags as did the others and they started passing things out starting with Percy "Annabeth I got you an owl backpack from universal studios" He said handing her the backpack "Aw thanks seaweed brain" she said holding it "Thalia I got you a hooded backpack" Percy said and Thalia looked confused "A hooded backpack?" She asked but before anything else was said Percy but something on her head and when she took it of it was a nightmare before Christmas backpack with a hood of jacks face on it "cool thanks Percy" he nodded "Grover I got you a bag full of recyclable cans" Percy said lifting up a whole bag of cans "Thanks Perce" Grover said taking the bag "Clarisse I got you a bulldog stuff animal" he said giving it to her "Thanks" Percy nodded "Rachel I got you some painting supplies" he said handing it to her "Thanks" then he turned to his dad "And dad I got you a shamu stuffed animal" he said and giving it to him "Thank you Percy" Percy smiled then turned to Nico "Lastly Nico I got you a plushy of Zero" he said giving the ghost dog to Nico "Aw thank you Percy" Nico said kissing him on the lips which Percy gladly returned.

The Travis went "Ok from me and Conner" he said pulling out his own bag "Will we got you a stuffed wolf" he said handing Will the wolf "thanks" Will said "Jake we got you a stuffed crane" he said handing him the Crane "Um thanks" Jake said "Pyra we got you a phoenix" They said handing it to her "Thanks" she said "Chris we got you a snack" Conner said handing him a snack stuffed animal "Wow guys thanks" Chris said "Katie I got you flowers" Travis said handing her a bouquet of flowers "Aw that's so sweet thank you Travis" Katie said kissing him on the check and that made him smile.

Then it was Hermes and Apollo's turn "Ok father we got you a stuffed eagle" Apollo said handing it to him "Thank you" he said "Hera we got you a stuff peacock" Hermes said handing it to her "Thank you" She said "Hephaestus we got you a tool box" They said handing him the tool box "Thanks guys" He said smiling "Dionysus.." "Oh no" He said "Oh come on it's not that bad" Apollo said before taking out a theatre "are you serious?" Dionysus asked and they nodded "You do realize I have like a thousand of these right" He said "Yes and now you have a thousand and one" Apollo said before giving it to him "Ares we give you this tank and toy solder" the said handing him the tank and the bucked "Is this from toy story?" He asked and the nodded and he just shook his head. Then they turned to Aphrodite "And Aphrodite we give you the magic mirror of snow white" Hermes said handing her the mirror "Thank you" she said looking at herself "as for my dear sister" "Oh boy" she said "I give you this stiffed dear" he said handing her a dear plushy "Um thank you Apollo" she said a little surprised he actually gave something like this to her "Demeter I give you a stuffed turtle-dove" Hermes said handing it to her "Thank you boys" she said "And last but never least Hades here's a hoodie" hey said giving him a Jack skeleton hoodie "Um thanks" he said. Percy then said something "Oh and Hestia" He called out and she looked at him "Yes Percy" she said "This is for you" he said handing her a picture frame Hestia was a little shook that they had actually got her something but she took it and was surprised that it was a picture of all the gods including herself she smiled "Thank you Percy" she said and he nodded.

Then Zeus spoke "Alright we will read on tomorrow for now we will go to sleep" he said and everyone nodded then one by one they all left to go to sleep.

**Ok everyone before I post another of the fanfict I just what to make it clear right know:**

**I DO NOT own the books or characters the only thing I do own is Pyra and the story IDEA that's it and Yes I will make some changes to it to fit Pyra and the couples in it so please don't take it down because it looks like lyrics to a song because even if it was I still wouldn't own it so yah I hope you enjoy the rest of the Adventure. **


	11. My dinner goes up in smoke

MY DINNER GOES UP IN SMOKE

Everyone walked back in after the nice sleep and breakfast and sat down so they could read the book "Alright so were wear we?" Zeus asked "We were on chapter seven father" Athena said and Zeus nodded. Katie picked up the book and started

"My dinner goes up in smoke" Katie said

"Well at least this one doesn't sound dangerous" Poseidon said

"I highly doubt that" Hermes said

While the others were actually betting on how many times their kids would be in danger Nico was looking down "What is it Nico?" Percy asked "It's just your past why didn't you tell me?" Nico asked looking at Percy "Because that was my past and I didn't really want you to know" Percy said "But Percy all this time I've been telling you things sometimes selfish, argent and annoying and something that I thought were so terrible about my life and yet you never say anything back to me, why?" Nico asked "It's because that was my past and thanks to everyone I was able to prove Gabe wrong and that was good enough for me and besides your cute when you're angry" Percy said winking at Nico who blushed and laughed a little before kidding Percy on the lips "I love you Percy" He said after pulling apart "I love you to Nico" Percy said to him but then Zeus said something "Alright let's start this chapter shall we?" He said and the others agreed

**Word of the bathroom incident spread immediately. Wherever I went, campers pointed at me and murmured something about toilet water. Or maybe they were just staring at Annabeth, who was still pretty much dripping wet.**

"Yah why didn't you dry yourself" Percy asked

"Well I was too busy planning to dry off Percy" Annabeth said as if it was obvious

**She showed me a few more places: the metal shop (where kids were forging their own swords), the arts-and-crafts room (where satyrs were sandblasting a giant marble statue of a goat-man), and the climbing wall, which actually consisted of two facing walls that shook violently, dropped boulders, sprayed lava, and clashed together if you didn't get to the top fast enough.**

"Thoughts are fun" Conner said and the other's nodded in agreement

**Finally we returned to the canoeing lake, where the trail led back to the cabins.**

"**I've got training to do," Annabeth said flatly. "Dinner's at seven-thirty. Just follow your cabin to the mess hall."**

"**Annabeth, I'm sorry about the toilets."**

"Yah right" Annabeth said

"I was" Percy said

"**Whatever."**

"**It wasn't my fault."**

**She looked at me skeptically, and I realized it was my fault. I'd made water shoot out of the bathroom fixtures. I didn't understand how. But the toilets had responded to me. I had become one with the plumbing.**

"**You need to talk to the Oracle," Annabeth said.**

"Not yet" Percy said

Annabeth nodded

"**Who?"**

"**Not who. What. The Oracle. I'll ask Chiron."**

"My poor Oracle" Apollo said looking down

**I stared into the lake, wishing somebody would give me a straight answer for once.**

**I wasn't expecting anybody to be looking back at me from the bottom, so my heart skipped a beat when I noticed two teenage girls sitting cross-legged at the base of the pier, about twenty feet below. They wore blue jeans and shimmering green T-shirts, and their brown hair floated loose around their shoulders as minnows darted in and out. They smiled and waved as if I were a long-lost friend.**

**I didn't know what else to do. I waved back.**

Nico just looked at Percy accusingly

"Hey we haven't met yet so no need to get jealous, and besides you know I love you" Percy said with a smile and kissed him on the lips which Nico returned

Aphrodite just squalid with delight at that

"**Don't encourage them," Annabeth warned. "Naiads are terrible flirts."**

"**Naiads," I repeated, feeling completely overwhelmed. "That's it. I want to go home now."**

**Annabeth frowned. "Don't you get it, Percy? You are home. This is the only safe place on earth for kids like us."**

"**You mean, mentally disturbed kids?"**

"**I mean not human. Not totally human, anyway. Half-human."**

"**Half-human and half-what?"**

"**I think you know."**

**I didn't want to admit it, but I was afraid I did. I felt a tingling in my limbs, a sensation I sometimes felt when my mom talked about my dad.**

"**God," I said. "Half-god."**

**Annabeth nodded. "Your father isn't dead, Percy. He's one of the Olympians."**

"**That's … crazy."**

"**Is it? What's the most common thing gods did in the old stories? They ran around falling in love with humans and having kids with them. Do you think they've changed their habits in the last few millennia?"**

"**But those are just-" I almost said myths again. Then I remembered Chiron's warning that in two thousand years, I might be considered a myth. "But if all the kids here are half-gods-"**

"**Demigods," Annabeth said. "That's the official term. Or half-bloods."**

"**Then who's your dad?"**

**Her hands tightened around the pier railing. I got the feeling I'd just trespassed on a sensitive subject.**

"**My dad is a professor at West Point," she said. "I haven't seen him since I was very small. He teaches American history."**

"**He's human."**

"**What? You assume it has to be a male god who finds a human female attractive? How sexist is that?"**

"I wasn't actually aiming for that you know?" Percy said

"I know and I'm sorry that I was hard on you" Annabeth said still remembering Percy's past

"It's fine Annabeth" Percy said with a smile

"**Who's your mom, then?"**

"**Cabin six."**

"**Meaning?"**

**Annabeth straightened. "Athena. Goddess of wisdom and battle."**

**Okay, I thought. Why not?**

"**And my dad?"**

"**Undetermined," Annabeth said, "like I told you before. Nobody knows."**

"**Except my mother. She knew."**

"**Maybe not, Percy. Gods don't always reveal their identities."**

"**My dad would have. He loved her."**

"Yes I do" Poseidon said with a smile

**Annabeth gave me a cautious look. She didn't want to burst my bubble. "Maybe you're right. Maybe he'll send a sign. That's the only way to know for sure: your father has to send you a sign claiming you as his son. Sometimes it happens.**

"**You mean sometimes it doesn't?"**

**Annabeth ran her palm along the rail. "The gods are busy. They have a lot of kids and they don't always … Well, sometimes they don't care about us, Percy. They ignore us."**

"Sorry…." The gods said

**I thought about some of the kids I'd seen in the Hermes cabin, teenagers who looked sullen and depressed, as if they were waiting for a call that would never come. I'd known kids like that at Yancy Academy, shuffled off to boarding school by rich parents who didn't have the time to deal with them. But gods should behave better.**

"**So I'm stuck here," I said. "That's it? For the rest of my life?"**

"**It depends," Annabeth said. "Some campers only stay the summer. If you're a child of Aphrodite or Demeter, you're probably not a real powerful force. The monsters might ignore you, so you can get by with a few months of summer training and live in the mortal world the rest of the year. But for some of us, it's too dangerous to leave. We're year-rounders. In the mortal world, we attract monsters. They sense us. They come to challenge us. Most of the time, they'll ignore us until we're old enough to cause trouble-about ten or eleven years old, but after that, most demigods either make their way here, or they get killed off. A few manage to survive in the outside world and become famous. Believe me, if I told you the names, you'd know them. Some don't even realize they're demigods. But very, very few are like that."**

"**So monsters can't get in here?"**

"Yep" The demigods said

**Annabeth shook her head. "Not unless they're intentionally stocked in the woods or specially summoned by somebody on the inside."**

"**Why would anybody want to summon a monster?"**

"**Practice fights. Practical jokes."**

"**Practical jokes?"**

"Stoll's" Everyone said

"Hey we're not that cruel" Travis said

"Yah" Conner agreed

Everyone just rolled their eyes, well except for Hermes 

"**The point is, the borders are sealed to keep mortals and monsters out. From the outside, mortals look into the valley and see nothing unusual, just a strawberry farm."**

"**So … you're a year-rounder?"**

**Annabeth nodded. From under the collar of her T-shirt she pulled a leather necklace with five clay beads of different colors. It was just like Luke's, except Annabeth's also had a big gold ring strung on it, like a college ring.**

"**I've been here since I was seven," she said. "Every August, on the last day of summer session, you get a bead for surviving another year. I've been here longer than most of the counselors, and they're all in college."**

"**Why did you come so young?"**

**She twisted the ring on her necklace. "None of your business."**

"**Oh." I stood there for a minute in uncomfortable silence. "So … I could just walk out of here right now if I wanted to?"**

"**It would be suicide, but you could, with Mr. D's or Chiron's permission. But they wouldn't give permission until the end of the summer session unless …"**

"**Unless?"**

"**You were granted a quest. But that hardly ever happens. The last time …"**

**Her voice trailed off. I could tell from her tone that the last time hadn't gone well.**

"**Back in the sick room," I said, "when you were feeding me that stuff-"**

"**Ambrosia."**

"**Yeah. You asked me something about the summer solstice."**

**Annabeth's shoulders tensed. "So you do know something?"**

"**Well… no. Back at my old school, I overheard Grover and Chiron talking about it. Grover mentioned the summer solstice. He said something like we didn't have much time, because of the deadline. What did that mean?"**

**She clenched her fists. "I wish I knew. Chiron and the satyrs, they know, but they won't tell me. Something is wrong in Olympus, something pretty major. Last time I was there, everything seemed so normal."**

"**You've been to Olympus?"**

"**Some of us year-rounders-Luke and Clarisse and I and a few others-we took a field trip during winter solstice. That's when the gods have their big annual council."**

"**But… how did you get there?"**

"**The Long Island Railroad, of course. You get off at Penn Station. Empire State Building, special elevator to the six hundredth floor." She looked at me like she was sure I must know this already. "You are a New Yorker, right?"**

"**Oh, sure." As far as I knew, there were only a hundred and two floors in the Empire State Building, but I decided not to point that out.**

"**Right after we visited," Annabeth continued, "the weather got weird, as if the gods had started fighting. A couple of times since, I've overheard satyrs talking. The best I can figure out is that something important was stolen. And if it isn't returned by summer solstice, there's going to be trouble. When you came, I was hoping … I mean- Athena can get along with just about anybody, except for Ares. And of course she's got the rivalry with Poseidon. But, I mean, aside from that, I thought we could work together. I thought you might know something."**

"Wait…" Zeus said thinking for a moment then it hit him "OK WHO STOLD IT!" He yelled but the demigods shock their heads

"Sorry Lord Zeus we cannot tell you, no matter what?" Annabeth said and the other nodded

**I shook my head. I wished I could help her, but I felt too hungry and tired and mentally overloaded to ask any more questions.**

"**I've got to get a quest," Annabeth muttered to herself. "I'm not too young. If they would just tell me the problem …"**

**I could smell barbecue smoke coming from somewhere nearby. Annabeth must've heard my stomach growl. She told me to go on, she'd catch me later. I left her on the pier, tracing her finger across the rail as if drawing a battle plan.**

**Back at cabin eleven, everybody was talking and horsing around, waiting for dinner. For the first time, I noticed that a lot of the campers had similar features: sharp noses, upturned eyebrows, mischievous smiles. They were the kind of kids that teachers would peg as troublemakers. Thankfully, nobody paid much attention to me as I walked over to my spot on the floor and plopped down with my minotaur horn.**

**The counselor, Luke, came over. He had the Hermes family resemblance, too. It was marred by that scar on his right cheek, but his smile was intact.**

"**Found you a sleeping bag," he said. "And here, I stole you some toiletries from the camp store."**

**I couldn't tell if he was kidding about the stealing part.**

**I said, "Thanks."**

"**No prob." Luke sat next to me, pushed his back against the wall. "Tough first day?"**

"**I don't belong here," I said. "I don't even believe in gods."**

"**Yeah," he said. "That's how we all started. Once you start believing in them? It doesn't get any easier."**

**The bitterness in his voice surprised me, because Luke seemed like a pretty easygoing guy. He looked like he could handle just about anything.**

"**So your dad is Hermes?" I asked.**

**He pulled a switchblade out of his back pocket, and for a second I thought he was going to gut me, but he just scraped the mud off the sole of his sandal. "Yeah. Hermes."**

"**The wing-footed messenger guy."**

"You sound disappointed Percy" Hermes said

"Well it's not like I know you yet" Percy said

"**That's him. Messengers. Medicine. Travelers, merchants, thieves. Anybody who uses the roads. That's why you're here, enjoying cabin eleven's hospitality. Hermes isn't picky about who he sponsors."**

**I figured Luke didn't mean to call me a nobody. He just had a lot on his mind.**

"**You ever meet your dad?" I asked.**

"**Once."**

**I waited, thinking that if he wanted to tell me, he'd tell me. Apparently, he didn't. I wondered if the story had anything to do with how he got his scar.**

Hermes looked down

**Luke looked up and managed a smile. "Don't worry about it, Percy. The campers here, they're mostly good people. After all, we're extended family, right? We take care of each other."**

**He seemed to understand how lost I felt, and I was grateful for that, because an older guy like him-even if he was a counselor-should've steered clear of an uncool middle-schooler like me. But Luke had welcomed me into the cabin. He'd even stolen me some toiletries, which was the nicest thing anybody had done for me all day.**

**I decided to ask him my last big question, the one that had been bothering me all afternoon. "Clarisse, from Ares, was joking about me being 'Big Three' material. Then Annabeth … twice, she said I might be 'the one.' She said I should talk to the Oracle. What was that all about?"**

**Luke folded his knife. "I hate prophecies."**

"**What do you mean?"**

**His face twitched around the scar. "Let's just say I messed things up for everybody else. The last two years, ever since my trip to the Garden of the Hesperides went sour, Chiron hasn't allowed any more quests. Annabeth's been dying to get out into the world. She pestered Chiron so much he finally told her he already knew her fate. He'd had a prophecy from the Oracle. He wouldn't tell her the whole thing, but he said Annabeth wasn't destined to go on a quest yet. She had to wait until… somebody special came to the camp."**

"**Somebody special?"**

"**Don't worry about it, kid," Luke said. "Annabeth wants to think every new camper who comes through here is the omen she's been waiting for. Now, come on, it's dinnertime."**

"Well considering you do become the person who is special" Annabeth said

"Yep" Percy said smiling

**The moment he said it, a horn blew in the distance. Somehow, I knew it was a conch shell, even though I'd never heard one before.**

**Luke yelled, "Eleven, fall in!"**

**The whole cabin, about twenty of us, filed into the commons yard. We lined up in order of seniority, so of course I was dead last. Campers came from the other cabins, too, except for the three empty cabins at the end, and cabin eight, which had looked normal in the daytime, but was now starting to glow silver as the sun went down.**

Artemis smiled

**We marched up the hill to the mess hall pavilion. Satyrs joined us from the meadow. Naiads emerged from the canoeing lake. A few other girls came out of the woods- and when I say out of the woods, I mean straight out of the woods. I saw one girl, about nine or ten years old, melt from the side of a maple tree and come skipping up the hill.**

**In all, there were maybe a hundred campers, a few dozen satyrs, and a dozen assorted wood nymphs and naiads.**

**At the pavilion, torches blazed around the marble columns. A central fire burned in a bronze brazier the size of a bathtub. Each cabin had its own table, covered in white cloth trimmed in purple. Four of the tables were empty, but cabin eleven's was way overcrowded. I had to squeeze on to the edge of a bench with half my butt hanging off.**

**I saw Grover sitting at table twelve with Mr. D, a few satyrs, and a couple of plump blond boys who looked just like Mr. D. Chiron stood to one side, the picnic table being way too small for a centaur.**

Dionysus smiled that his boys were mentioned

**Annabeth sat at table six with a bunch of serious-looking athletic kids, all with her gray eyes and honey-blond hair.**

**Clarisse sat behind me at Ares's table. She'd apparently gotten over being hosed down, because she was laughing and belching right alongside her friends.**

**Finally, Chiron pounded his hoof against the marble floor of the pavilion, and everybody fell silent. He raised a glass. "To the gods!"**

**Everybody else raised their glasses. "To the gods!"**

**Wood nymphs came forward with platters of food: grapes, apples, strawberries, cheese, fresh bread, and yes, barbecue! My glass was empty, but Luke said, "Speak to it. Whatever you want-nonalcoholic, of course."**

**I said, "Cherry Coke."**

**The glass filled with sparkling caramel liquid.**

**Then I had an idea. "Blue Cherry Coke."**

"Of course" The other Demigods said and Percy just blushed at that

Nico just kissed him on the check

**The soda turned a violent shade of cobalt.**

**I took a cautious sip. Perfect.**

**I drank a toast to my mother.**

**She's not gone, I told myself. Not permanently, anyway. She's in the Underworld. And if that's a real place, then someday…**

"**Here you go, Percy," Luke said, handing me a platter of smoked brisket.**

**I loaded my plate and was about to take a big bite when I noticed everybody getting up, carrying their plates toward the fire in the center of the pavilion. I wondered if they were going for dessert or something.**

"**Come on," Luke told me.**

**As I got closer, I saw that everyone was taking a portion of their meal and dropping it into the fire, the ripest strawberry, the juiciest slice of beef, the warmest, most buttery roll.**

**Luke murmured in my ear, "Burnt offerings for the gods. They like the smell."**

"**You're kidding."**

**His look warned me not to take this lightly, but I couldn't help wondering why an immortal, all-powerful being would like the smell of burning food.**

"We don't know we just do" The gods said

**Luke approached the fire, bowed his head, and tossed in a cluster of fat red grapes. "Hermes."**

**I was next.**

**I wished I knew what god's name to say.**

**Finally, I made a silent plea. Whoever you are, tell me. Please.**

"Of course I will Percy" Poseidon said with a smile which Percy returned

**I scraped a big slice of brisket into the flames.**

**When I caught a whiff of the smoke, I didn't gag.**

**It smelled nothing like burning food. It smelled of hot chocolate and fresh-baked brownies, hamburgers on the grill and wildflowers, and a hundred other good things that shouldn't have gone well together, but did. I could almost believe the gods could live off that smoke.**

**When everybody had returned to their seats and finished eating their meals, Chiron pounded his hoof again for our attention.**

**Mr. D got up with a huge sigh. "Yes, I suppose I'd better say hello to all you brats. Well, hello. Our activities director, Chiron, says the next capture the flag is Friday. Cabin five presently holds the laurels."**

**A bunch of ugly cheering rose from the Ares table.**

"**Personally," Mr. D continued, "I couldn't care less, but congratulations. Also, I should tell you that we have a new camper today. Peter Johnson."**

**Chiron murmured something.**

"And that were that name began" Percy said

Dionysus just shrugged

"**Er, Percy Jackson," Mr. D corrected. "That's right. Hurrah, and all that. Now run along to your silly campfire. Go on."**

**Everybody cheered. We all headed down toward the amphitheater, where Apollo's cabin led a sing-along. We sang camp songs about the gods and ate s'mores and joked around, and the funny thing was, I didn't feel that anyone was staring at me anymore. I felt that I was home.**

**Later in the evening, when the sparks from the campfire were curling into a starry sky, the conch horn blew again, and we all filed back to our cabins. I didn't realize how exhausted I was until I collapsed on my borrowed sleeping bag.**

**My fingers curled around the Minotaur's horn. I thought about my mom, but I had good thoughts: her smile, the bedtime stories she would read me when I was a kid, the way she would tell me not to let the bedbugs bite.**

"Good times" Percy said with a smile

**When I closed my eyes, I fell asleep instantly.**

**That was my first day at Camp Half-Blood.**

**I wish I'd known how briefly I would get to enjoy my new home.**

"End of chapter seven, ok whose next?" Katie ask

"I'll read" Athena said and Katie gave her the book


	12. i'm sorry

I'm Sorry

I'm sorry everyone but I'm no longer doing this story I might takes some of your offers and put it on Wattpad but who knows for now I'm not going to do it anymore because apparently I'm stupid for even thinking this idea so yah no more Reading Percy Jackson but my other ficts will still be on, and for those of you that are waiting for "A totally Different Cinderella story" don't worry the update is coming soon and so are the other ones and one more thing:

Thank you everyone that have supported this fanfict and I hope you enjoy my other ones

From: Cynder1827


End file.
